Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Index

Hmong Culture Expedition Index:




References

Books:

The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Yang

A People's History of the Hmong by Paul Hilmer

 Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in Diaspora (Asian American Experience) by Chia Youyee Vang


Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_people

http://www.jefflindsay.com/Hmong_tragedy.html

http://www.hmongnet.org/


Academic Journals:

Lee G, Tapp N. Culture And Customs Of The Hmong. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood; 2010. Available from: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 16, 2014.

Tapp N. The Hmong Of China [Electronic Resource] : Context, Angency, And The Imaginary / By Nicholas Tapp [e-book]. Boston : Brill Academic Publishers, 2003.; 2003. Available from: East Stroudsburg University Library Catalog, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 14, 2014.

Tapp N. The Hmong Of China : Cultural Surivival [e-book]. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers; 2005. Available from: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 14, 2014.

Kou Y. Commentary: Mis-Education in K-12 Teaching about Hmong Culture, Identity, History and Religion. Hmong Studies Journal [serial online]. December 2012;13:1-21. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 18, 2014.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Interview

Below is a transcript of the interview i had with a American person of Hmong decent via Facebook. Her family moved to the United States in 1992 and she was born in the United States in 1993. Her name is Mai Yang and she currently live in Los Angeles California:

When did your family come to the United States?

My family came to the United States from Laos in 1993. When i was growing up, my family did not speak much English but today my parents speak English because of work.

What is some of your favorite food from your culture?

My favorite food is my mothers Sweet Pork and Eggs.

How many brothers and sisters do you have? Do you have a large family?

I have two brothers and two sisters that live with me. My Aunt and Uncle who are also from Laos live with me and they have two boys.

What is some of your favorite Hmong events that you still celebrate?

Hmong New Year is my favorite holiday. It is basically like Chinese New Year. We wear traditional Hmong dress and eat all of the native food.

What are some of your favorite things or hobbies?

I'm really into all different types of music. I am actually learning to play guitar which I'm pretty excited about!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Hmong Cultural Survival

The Hmong people have maintained there way of life while adapting to the main cultures in which they live. The Hmong people are now located all over the globe and have maintained strong cultural and ethnic heritage while living in these "new" lands. Because of this adaptation to the main culture, the Hmong have remained a strong ethnic group throughout the world.  The Hmong have a strong family based society and a clan based society as well.

Today the Hmong are located all over the globe due to many migrations of these people. In previous blog posts, i have gave more info on to where these people are now located. Check them out!

 Image Source: Coco Kelly


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Hmong Migration

The Hmong are regarded as one of the earliest groups in Eastern Asia, originally inhabiting the area north of the Yellow River in China  as early as 3000 B. C. Hmong legend contends that the two earliest groups in this region were the Hmoog and the Suav (both now forms of the Ancient Hmong people).

The Hmong have gone through various attempts at genocide, oppression and multiple migrations because of incidents with governments of the countries in which they lived. Hmong culture and tradition has remained today because of the strong will of the people within the culture. The initial migration, called "The First Move" began with early Han Chinese tribes forcing the Hmong out of their ancestral lands to areas further south in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Valley around 2000 B.C. This would not be the first time that this group would be forced to leave their native lands.

Second and third forced migrations spread this group out even further into various parts of China, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. As a i found from different readings and books i have stated in my references, there is now said to be Hmong influence in Japan as well. Recent migrations have created different Hmong communities throughout the world, including groups in Australia, Canada, France, South America and the United States. The Hmong people are now located throughout the world and still remain true to their cultural heritage.

File:FlowerHmong Vietnam (pixinn.net).jpg
Source: Wikipedia

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Hmong and their Neighbors

Like is stated in a previous blog post, the Hmong people are known to adapt the the main culture in the regions in which they live. Because of this adaptation to the main dominant culture, the Hmong people usually fit in quite well in the countries that they migrate to and live in today. Below is a list of the current Hmong population throughout the world:

Hmong women at Coc Ly market, Sapa, Vietnam.jpg
(source: Wikipedia)

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States governments recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against invading military forces from North Vietnam and communist Lao insurgents during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War (known to Hmong as "secret" wars).

Hmong people were singled out by the Marxist Lao and Vietnamese Army when they took over the Laotian government in 1975. This incident was one of the major incidents that the Hmong people had with neighbors. Also, they originally migrated due to political unrest in China and racial hatred toward their people. Over time, the Hmong have migrated numerous times do this political unrest.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Birds of the Hmong

In my findings on the Hmong culture, i could not really find much related to birds and the Hmong culture. The only thing that i came across (but could not find more info on) was Hmong embroidery and birds. The Hmong people love to embroider all different types of pillows and other objects around the home. In my findings, i have found some of these items have birds and other scenes from nature on them.





Source: Ebay

Here is a picture of one of the embroidered Hmong pillows with the image of a bird on it. I could not find what exact bird is pictured above but this obviously shows the importance of birds and nature in the Hmong culture.