A Utah ofrenda memorializes children who were buried to be forgotten - Axios Salt Lake CityLog InLog InAxios Salt Lake City is an Axios company.

A Utah ofrenda memorializes children who were buried to be forgotten

An ofrenda at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center honors children who died at indigenous boarding schools in the U.S. and Canada. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios El Día de los Muertos is a powerful celebration of memory. But at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, one striking ofrenda — a memorial altar — honors deaths that were long treated as forgettable. What's happening: Among the ofrendas that community groups have placed in the center's gallery, you'll find a paper grave to honor indigenous children who died in abusive boarding schools.Hundreds of students' bodies were cast into unmarked graves, which are now being investigated in the and . Of note: Many of the residential schools were operated by , with the Catholic church Canadian schools where Indigenous groups have reported of more than 1,000 unmarked graves. The ofrenda for the schools' victims was created by children at the Madeleine Choir School, a Catholic private school in Salt Lake City. What they're saying: "You did not deserve what happened," one student wrote on an orange paper shirt, a of residential school victims. Meanwhile: The center is its Día de los Muertos celebration 11am-6pm Saturday, with performances, activities, food, a beer garden and a La Catrina/El Catrin costume contest.Location: 1355 W. 3100 SouthTickets: $5. (No charge for kids 12 and under.) Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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