Butte Mai Wah Society honors Chinese ancestors at Qingming Festival

BUTTE, Mont. — The Mai Wah Society held a traditional Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day observance on Sunday afternoon at the local cemetery.

The event marked the commencement of the Qingming Festival, a tradition centered on remembering ancestors and celebrating spring. Participants swept historic graves connected to Butte’s Chinese community and placing flowers on them.

Members also made offerings of fruit and wine and burned incense. The observance focused on the history of the city’s Chinese population and its lasting presence in Butte.

The society’s president pointed to that earlier history while reflecting on the tradition.

"We can only imagine the lively celebration of the Qingming Festival in the late 1800s, when about a thousand Chinese people lived in Butte," the president said.