...THE STATE OF HMONG-AMERICAN STUDIES (A BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY) By Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD Director, Hmong Resource Center, Saint Paul Editor, Hmong Studies Journal Introduction In the newly published volume Hmong/Miao in Asia, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, co-editor Nicholas Tapp provides an insightful essay “The State of Hmong Studies: An Essay on Bibliography” which traces the temporal development of research on the Hmong and assesses some of the key works within the interdisciplinary realm of Hmong Studies. Tapp’s essay is very valuable as an overview of the growth of Hmong Studies research based in Asia. Unfortunately, the sections of his piece pertaining to Hmong-American Studies, are, as he himself acknowledges, dated as they are heavily focused on publications from the 1980s and early 1990s. It is the purpose of the present short essay to provide the reader with an assessment of recent developments in Hmong-American Studies and some insights about certain research areas that need further development in the field. Health and Medicine Hmong-American Studies research has grown dramatically since the early 1990s. The Hmong Resource Center library in Saint Paul now possesses more than 150 dissertations/theses and 450 journal articles pertaining to HmongAmericans (as opposed to Hmong in Asia and other countries). The vast majority 1 of these works have been published since 1994. There are certain fields within Hmong-American Studies that have seen very important...
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...about the Hmong culture, they originally dominated the country of China; however, they were overtaken by other Asian groups (Split Horn). Some Hmong people were enslaved, while majority of the Hmong individuals scattered throughout the world. Hmong families and relatives strayed away from populated areas, and decided to escape to Thailand. With the separation of the Hmong population, Hmong relatives mainly mobilized to Laos or deep into the mountains in Thailand. The estimated Hmong population during that time was 300,000 to 400,000 people (Split Horn). When the Vietnam War began, several Hmong people decided to find different locations to live in, while other Hmong individuals contributed to fight along with the United...
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...Many Hmong refugees resettled in the United States after the Vietnam War. Beginning in December 1975, the first Hmong refugees arrived in the U.S., mainly from refugee camps in Thailand; however, only 3,466 were granted asylum at that time under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975. In May 1976, another 11,000 were allowed to enter the United States, and by 1978 some 30,000 Hmong people had immigrated. The Hmong community is very religious for the most part. In some of the large cities where Lao and Hmong-Americans live and work, tensions have, on rare occasion, running high between them and neighboring ethnic groups. Hmong people have sometimes been targets of discrimination, mainly because of job competition and stereotyping of them as foreigners and too dependent on welfare. Some of their persecutors justified their actions by claiming that the Hmong unnecessarily took jobs, welfare money, and other services away from long-time residents. As with any social issues, these communities evolve to being very successful but also they suffer issues such as crime that is perpetrated by their own. Hmong gangs are considered to be some of the most violent Asian gangs on the US. These gangs are formed mainly by younger generations of Hmong; they become enchanted with the American way of life and get involved with crime. Throughout the United States, the number of Hmong gangs and the level of their criminal activity are increasing in severity. Their participation...
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...Thao gains confidence and becomes a man, finally realising his usefulness in the world. Walt gains new views and perceptions of the world around him and even learns to let go of his past. However, character development doesn’t extend out to all characters within the film, but situates on the most important individuals within the movie. Thao Vang Lor isn’t the protagonist of “Gran Torino” but he is the most important when it comes to character development. Thao is an American-born Asian who feels he doesn’t quite belong with his family. Intelligent as he is; Thao starts as a scrawny, hunched-over and his Hmong family don’t consider him a man. His Grandmother even tells one of the family members; "He does whatever his sister tells him to do. How could he ever become man of the house?” Thao is constantly being told what to do and does all the chores that the Hmong people see as ‘Women’s chores’, such as the dishes, or gardening. When Thao first meets Walt Kowalski at the start of the film, he asks for jumper cables to help start up a car. But he is shy and Walt immediately dislikes Thao and doesn't even give him the chance to speak, butting in and trying to push him to cut to the chase. In this scene, a high view is shot from above Walt, looking down on Thao. This symbolises the superiority that Walt has over Thao at this point. As the two begin to warm up to each other they begin to form a bond unlike any other. They become the best of friends. Walt gives Thao the physical...
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...Hmong culture is a combination of Chinese, Vietnamese, Laos, and Thai, making them very unique in the basics of culture, where they live, and their global landscape. Hmong people are very unique in a few ways and are not well-known as an Asian culture if you were to ask someone. Although they are not a country, Hmong people have lots of pride in their culture and ancestors. From the fancy traditional clothes to living in the mountains between countries and being separated from China and Vietnam, Hmong people are very independent and are influenced by many countries. Hmong is a very independent Asian culture and community and has very unique and colorful traditional clothes. Traditional women clothes contain long black pants or skirts, hand...
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...Lucy Vue Public Speaking NE 11A.M Janet Nobles Informative Speech Outline Objective: To inform To inform the audience about a history background of the Hmong people. Intro: I have a lot of people asking me this question every time they finished asking me what nationality I am. What is Hmong? That triggers me! Sometimes it is heard for me to answer them because I don’t know the real answer to it and I would just say “we are Asian, we don’t have a country and we are not Mongolian.” This question, what is Hmong finally led me to research on my own people history, therefore I finally found out interesting information. I. What is Hmong? a) Hmong are an ethnic group from the mountain regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. b) The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. In Martha Ratliff’s 2004 book, Vocabulary of Environment and Subsistence in Proto-language, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. c) 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified. II. Hmong Rituals and Culture a) An article in www. Pbs.org stated about the Hmong religion is traditionally animist. According to Hmong cosmology, the human body is the host for a number of souls. The isolation and separation of one or more of these souls from the body can cause disease, depression and death. Curing rites are therefore referred to as "soul-calling rituals"...
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...Hmong World View and Social Structure According to Durkheim (1961), the source of what we regard as sacred or religious lies within our own image. The deities and spirits we pay respect to are but "society transfigured" for in the final analysis we only worship our society. It is society which is both the cause and the expression of religious sentiments through regular ritual representations (Aron, 1967: 53) These rights constitute beliefs enacted for the purpose of preserving a sense of belonging for the participants and maintaining them together as a group. They not only tie the members of the group to each other "but also to the past and the future generations" (Cohen, 1871: 180). Religious ideas, in the words of Bachofen (Leaf, 1979: 118), define fundamental relations in society, showing internal structures similar to the actual behaviour or the believers. The supernatural order is in general based on the social relationships of the group. It validates and regulates these relationships, thereby conserving the social orders. In this paper, I will discuss the social organisation of the Hmong of Laos and Thailand in relation to their religious beliefs in order to see if the two spheres mutually interact to maintain the broader social system. It has been said that ancestral spirits are no more than "a projection of the authority system of the living - the lineage elders elevated to a supernatural plane" (Keesing and Keesing 1971: 309). How true is this of the Hmong? I will...
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...Hmong families were very large, as Foua for example, conceived fourteen children. Hmong valued family, and children were seen as “the most treasured possession a person [could] have” (p.22). It was said that Hmong mothers were “more sensitive, more accepting, and more responsive” (p.22). Consequently, their children turned out to be less fussy. The Lees had their own family clan in Merced. Hmong took great pride in caring for every member of their family, ensuring that they always had contact with every member. Unlike America, Hmong believed that “it was never everyone for himself” (p.247). The reason behind why the Lee’s were exceptionally open to Fadiman was because her interpreter’s husband was a part of the Lee’s clan. Spirituality played...
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...Gran Torino Jamie P. Lard Texas A&M University-Central Texas Summary The movie “Gran Torino” tells the story of Walt Kowalski (played by Clint Eastwood), who is a retired autoworker and also a veteran of the North Korean war. In the first part, the film Walt loses his wife, Dorothy. He is survived by his two sons their wives and grandchildren. However, Mr. Kowalski chooses not to display affection toward or even try to bond with his sons, daughters-in-laws, and grandchildren. He spends much of his time sitting on the front porch drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and growling at the neighborhood people as they walk past his house. It seems that Kowalski has difficulties communicating with non-whites without making offensive racial remarks. It is evident that the racial slurs he makes throughout the first part of the movie are for self-gratification. Mr. Kowalski’s snarling character emanates a form of white machismo that uses racism as a way of empowering himself. In the movie “Gran Torino” the cultural diversity is abundant; however it is met with prejudice and resistance from the main character, Walt Kowalski. His house is located in an once prominent area of Highland Park, Michigan. Mr. Kowalski was an American made man, everything that he owns was made in America. Mr. Kowalski was upset with his sons for purchasing foreign cars because he as always purchased American made cars. Which brings us to the main feature of the film is the “Gran Torino.” Mr...
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...The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Book Review by Jerry Cyccone The book I chose to review, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Huong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures”, by Anne Fadiman, is a non-fiction narrative about the collision of cultural relativism and medicine. The book describes the struggles faced by the Lees, a Hmong family that emigrated from Laos in 1980, to the city of Merced, California. The story revolves around young Lia Lee, the second born from her parents and a sufferer of epilepsy. Difficulties arise when barriers in communication, culture, and religion surface between American physicians and Lia’s parents over Lia’s treatment. These barriers, further enhanced by both side’s ethnocentric beliefs and failure to work together, resulted in creating a series of events that would eventually determine the fate of poor Lia Lee. Lia had her initial seizure at the young age of three months old. In an unfamiliar country and not fluent in English, yet concerned by Lia’s seizure, the Lees brought Lia to Merced Community Medical Center. From the beginning, the inability of both Lia’s parents and the doctors to communicate with each other, made it almost impossible for Lia to even be diagnosed properly. In fact, the first diagnosis of Lia was that she was suffering from a “bronchial infection” (p. 26). Yes, Lia did have breathing issues, but because of the language barrier, the doctors didn’t realize until...
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...dynamics of a family vary vastly between different cultures. The Hmong people in particular are a group of people whose history and traditional values strongly influences the family dynamic. It’s a culture whose principles strongly revolve around hierarchy and patriarchy. Many times the system of patriarchy overpowers within Hmong cultures and women get left behind and often times become victims of abuse. This is an important issue that not many people in the community have addressed because of importance on cultural beliefs, norms, and family honor. I will first start off with a brief history of the Hmong. Hmong people are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China. But because of political unrest and ethnic cleansing...
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...A Changed Man Detroit Michigan used to be one the largest producers of automobiles in the country. It used to be filled with blue-collared people who worked the 8-5 shift every day and would be home in time for dinner. This all changed when the factories were shut down and production was moved over seas. Consequently, after the factories were shut down most of the white people left the city to find new jobs, causing one of the largest housing crisis in American history. Homes were being sold for cheap which caused low income ethnic groups to move in and crime to rise. Many families watched this slow change occur and watch their loved ones move away from them before their very own eyes. Clint Eastwood was one of those men that witnessed this change occur. Clint is a retired worker from the Ford plant who is a man who can’t accept the change around him. He is a man who eats chili for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and causes nightmares by looking someone directly in the eyes. After the death of his wife, he struggled to find happiness in his life unless it involved beer and a cigarettes. His tough natured hard-working American self, gave him an image as a Christ figure that people could look up to. An individual’s identity is determined by their actions and how they able to adapt to different cultures and racial surroundings around them. Surrounding cultures can have great influences on a person’s identity or well-being. In Clint Eastwood’s case, the diverse cultures...
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...09/09/2013 Assignment 1 1. What do you think of traditional Hmong birth practices (pp. 3-5)? Compare them to the techniques used when Lia was born (p. 7). How do Hmong and American birth practices differ? I find the traditional birth practices peculiar and very unsafe. The conceiving of a child should be done in a sterile environment by professionals, so that the risks of negative effects like infections, wounds, etc. is minimized. Nevertheless I think the tradition, that the placenta is buried by the father, so that the soul can return to it’s first jacket, in order to continue it’s after death journey, is a wonderful way of believing what comes after death. Professional doctors handled Lia’s birth the American way, with her mother lying on a metal table with sterile drapes and no anaesthetics. This is a big difference to the Hmon customs, where Foua would have squatted on the dirty floor and pulled the baby out by herself, while trying not to touch the floor and not waking her other kids, until the new-born starts to cry. Another difference is that the Hmong bury the baby’s placenta and the Americans incinerate it. After birth a soul calling ceremony officially in order to confirm the quality of Lia’s name and pleasing the soul to reside in Lia’s body to protect her from illness and evil spirits. 2. Over many centuries the Hmong fought against a number of different peoples who claimed sovereignty over their lands; they were also forced to emigrate from China. How...
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...practices related to the Hmong community. The screenplay was written by Nick Schenk and the movie was filmed in July 2008 (Longwell, T). Gran Torino was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also played the role of the main character known as Walt Kowalski. Walt was an American man and a Korean War veteran who resided in a neighborhood that became inhabited by Hmong families (Gran Torino, 2008). The relationship that Walt had with his own family was disconnected and distant because his sons embraced the modern way of living but Walt was more traditional. Walt was portrayed as a grumpy old man who did not like to socialize with others. All of that changed when Walt became associated with the Hmong children next door, Thao and Sue. Walt saved Thao from being taken by the Hmong gang members and was viewed as a hero by the Hmong families despite the fact that Walt was just trying to keep other people off his lawn. Upon an unexpected invitation by Sue, Walt’s world became intertwined with the Hmong community as he was introduced to various traditional Hmong customs and foods. After a series of events, the Hmong gang returned and injured Thao’s family which prompted Walt to seek redemption from his war past by sacrificing himself for the safety of Thao and Sue. The film portrayed culture clashes between an American and Hmong families while focusing on the struggles that Hmong immigrants endure to survive within their community. The Hmong population was great in...
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...General Vang Pao, Hmong culture, and its history. When we talk about the Vietnam war in school they do not mention anything about General Vang Pao or the Secret Army. This inspired us to pick this topic and teach everybody about Hmong history. In school, it is very mysterious that very few people know about the Secret Army and General Vang Pao helping the Hmong people cross into Thailand. Also, Vang Pao helped the Americans fight against the Vietnamese by teaching them Morse code to communicate and taught them guerrilla warfare. Vang Pao is a person who every Hmong person looks up too; every Hmong person thinks of him as their role model. This is why we chose this topic, because he took a stand by helping Hmong people cross the Mekong river into Thailand....
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