APSU students participating in LatinX Heritage Month by making pinatas. CARLEE KLUTTS | THE ALL STATE

The LatinX Community Resource Center has been on a roll; hosting events dedicated to Latinx Heritage Month.

First, we had the kickoff where the Clarksville and Austin Peay community showed up and showed out with their dance moves. Finally, the annual open Mic night which showcased student’s artwork and poetry dedicated to Latinx and Hispanic culture and its influence on students’ personal lives.

September 26th, the Latinx Community Resource Center hosted an event dedicated to Piñata making.

Students were able to gather resources like cardboard to make their Piñatas while learning the origins of the festive tradition.

Piñatas are typically associated with Latin American culture, but they originated from China.
In China, Piñatas were created to look like farm animals to represent a new year or the springtime, and Chinese people would fill them with seeds to represent the favorable season of agricultural growth.

From China, the Piñata would be brought to Europe where priests would decorate a clay pot which was decorated with colorful paper and inside were faithful rewards.

From Europe, the Piñata would be brought to Mexico to be filled with treasures and then broken to present their god treasures.

Today, the Piñata is not associated with religious practices, but they are still relevant especially in Latin American and Hispanic culture.

This tradition has traveled through centuries and has evolved into one of the festivities that people all over the world look forward to participating in…especially for the candy.

Piñatas are still a representation of joy and life as children grow and families come together to celebrate one another and their culture.