Day of the Dead’s La Catrina has an ancestor in Mexico’s ancient mythologies

Traces of Day of the Dead’s skeletal female icon can be found in ancient Mexico’s indigenous beliefs

Published October 29, 2022

La Catrina is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Day of the Dead.  In the week leading up to the Day of the Dead, Catrinas and skeletal images stare back at you from shop windows, T-shirts, vendors’ stands, and festivalgoers.

Typically the Catrina is depicted in an elegant dress sporting a bonnet adorned with flowers, feathers and even miniature skulls.  Her attire proclaims that this is a festive occasion, a day for celebration.

But the presence of La Catrina in Mesoamerican mythology makes a much deeper statement regarding the way indigenous peoples view death. Colorado State University assistant professor Dr. María Ines Canto says that La Catrina was born from several elements, including “the relationship that indigenous cultures had with death.”

The first “guardian of the afterlife” was Mictecacíhuatl — the queen of the Mexica underworld, known as Chicunamuctlan. It was her role to look after the bones of the dead.

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