The anticipated League of Latinos’ annual Tamales for the Holiday event was a success! Pleas-

ing was to hear and receive positive feedback from satisfied faculty, students, and community

members who enjoyed the delicious homemade tamales and salsa provided that afternoon.

League of Latinos:

Tamales for the Holidays

DECEMBER 2013 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

Did you know?

The tamale is recorded as

early as 5000 BC, possibly

7000 BC in Pre-Columbian

history.

As the warring tribes of the

Aztec, Mayan, and Incan cul-

tures grew, the demand of

readying the nixtamal (corn)

itself became so overwhelm-

ing a process, a need arose to

have a more portable sustain-

ing foodstuff...hence the ta-

male was born.

Inside this issue:

League of Latinos 1

Our People 2

Our Events 3

Our Memories 4

Our Information 5

Our Christmas Festivities

Dec 12 :Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe or the Feast Day of our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico.

- This day commemorates her last of four appearances to an Indian convert named Juan Diego in December

1531. She left a marvelous portrait of herself on the mantle of Juan Diego. This miraculous image has proved to

be ageless, and is kept in the shrine built in her honor, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Dec 16-24 Las Posadas (Practiced in Mexico, Guatemala and other Central American countries).

- Las Posadas commemorate the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and their search for a place to stay.

Family and friends visit one another in their homes and enjoy conversations and traditional foods, and visitors

sing carols. Colombians celebrate a similar holiday called “La Novena”, and for nine days, families pray and sing

traditional carols.

Dec 24 & 25 (La Nochebuena y la Navidad, Christmas Eve and Christmas.)

Preparing traditional foods is an integral part of the holiday. In many Catholic countries, people attend midnight

mass on Christmas Eve. Family quality time is emphasized greatly during this time of year.

Sources: http://ucanr.edu/sites/Spanish/Calendario/Major_Holidays_and_Celebrations_of_Spanish-Speaking_Countries/

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-12-12

Student Profile: Daniel Lyles

Hometown: Oriente, Cuba

Occupation: Head of the Department of Span-ish, Professor of Spanish

Dr. Peréz left his home in Oriente, Cuba (the eastern most province of the country) at the age of 13 due to the communist government that to this day continues to rule the island.

Dr. Peréz has made his life here in the United States since then. He graduated high school in Massachusetts in 1964 and taught in Indiana for 10 years before making his way down to Arka-delphia, Arkansas.

After being here for 23 years he plans to retire in May and looks forward to moving to Ecuador with his wife.

As far as the League of Latinos, he sees it as an advancement to the Hispanic student population on campus. He believes the organization serves as a way to make these students known. In his own words, “before you had to look for them, now you know where they are.”

Page 2

OUR PEOPLE

Staff Profile: Dr. Henry Peréz

Hometown: DeRidder, Louisiana

Major: Sociology

Minor: Criminal Justice

Campus Involvement: Football and League of Latinos

Classification: Senior

Daniel is of American (dad) and Dominican (mom) descent.

He was drawn to become a Henderson State University student in 2010 when he was offered a football scholarship.

His trajectory as a Reddie athlete has earned him three rings in football—two of which came from these previous two seasons when the team obtained back-to-back GAC titles.

Once graduating he plans to make his way to Dallas and start working on his career.

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5 Page 3

OUR EVENTS

Upcoming Events—Spring 2014

February 12 Dancing Night: Bachata

March 4 How to make Tortillas Workshop

March 11 Tacos Tuesday

April 3 Tacos for Text

Page 4

OUR MEMORIES

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

OUR INFORMATION

Page 5

Ms. Cecilia Medina

Communications Officer

League of Latinos

Dr. Veronikha Salazar

League of Latinos Advisor

Associate Dean of Students

salazav@hsu.edu

(870)230-5231

#HSULatino

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5