Many of the native Mexican Indians celebrated days of remembrance of their dead loved ones. These holidays were celebrated in the summer. A holiday in which dead children visited their loved ones was celebrated in June. And another holiday when families welcomed dead adult relatives was celebrated in July.

As we can guess, the Christian missionaries were very unhappy with these "pagan" holidays and put a stop to their celebration.

In learning the new religion taught them by the missionaries, the native people of Mexico discovered Christian holidays which looked, to them, like the very Days of the Dead they were not allowed to celebrate. These, of course, were All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day. Soon these Christian holidays were celebrated with all the enthusiasm (as well as the same customs and beliefs) as had once been afforded to the ancient Days of the Dead. Only the time of year for the celebrations had changed. (Even the name remains the same.)

Evidently, the missionaries were fooled, for the holiday is celebrated to this day in much the same way as it was celebrated long before Christianity came to Mexico's shores.

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