Finally, Hmong people come from a "collective society," Xiong said. So, a great deal of secondary migration took place after the initial resettlement. According to Census data, California has the largest Hmong population in the United States — more than 91, call the Golden State home. Minnesota ranks second, with more than 66,, and Wisconsin is third, with a Hmong population of about 49, However, the Twin Cities easily tops other metropolitan areas.
Most of Minnesota's Hmong population resides in the metro area about 65, ; the second-largest metro concentration of Hmong people is in Fresno, Calif. Within the Twin Cities, St.
Paul has the largest population by far with nearly 30, Hmong. Minneapolis is a distant second with about 7,, followed by Brooklyn Park with about 5, and Brooklyn Center with about 3, Maplewood rounds out the top five with a population of about 2, The Hmong are an ethnic group within the country of Laos. In Laos, the Hmong are called Hmong, even by the majority Lao.
So as not to confuse people, Hmong are Hmong and Lao are Lao. It's like apples and oranges. Both are from Laos , but labeled differently. There are 18 clans in the Hmong culture, each with a different name. Children are members of their father's clan. If the formalities are not followed disrespect is shown to both sets of parents, and can bring shame to the families.
A wedding serves to honor the couple and their families and to preserve a continuation of Hmong culture and community. The marriage event is the creation of a new family, a bond between the couple and the families, and a strengthening of past family and community connections in the people present.
The traditional wedding itself can last days, with chant readings and feasting. In marriage, a young couple maintains a deep connection with family, often finding among kin financial assistance, shared living space, childcare, and guidance. Powerful roles exist for men and women in Hmong culture, though in the US there is disruption in gender roles based on economic need and acceptance of American ways.
Hmong women in the US are more active and in positions of power outside the home than they traditionally have been. In some cases, marriages have broken up and the risk of domestic violence has increased in the face of pressure brought by changes in gender status.
Traditionally, girls had a lower status than boys. Men have a higher status than women publicly, while women hold their power more privately. Traditionally, women are hard working and hospitable, primarily caring for the household and raising children, not going to school or holding a job outside the home. The head of the household in a Hmong family is usually the father, though the mother also has a highly respected role at home and in some ways, especially in child rearing and daily household affairs, she is the leader of the family.
Women gain more power in the household as they age. Usually the father makes most of the important decisions for the family. But sometimes, the male head of the immediate household involves relatives including uncles, cousins, or even clan leaders in important decisions. Men are entrusted with performing rituals of ancestor worship, such as calling the names of ancestors during occasions like New Year, weddings, christenings, new harvests, and family feasts, invoking the dead kin to take part in these events and bring protection and good fortune to the family and household.
When a man and woman grow old and unable to perform all the responsibilities as heads of household, their son and his wife assume the roles. Traditionally, it is considered inappropriate for the opposite genders to sit too close to one another when conversing. To avoid misinterpretations, a male should keep a distance between himself and a female when in conversation or in any type of encounter.
Kinship is based on marriage and descent. Hmong people are traditionally not individualistically oriented, but identify the self as a member of the family, clan and community.
Hmong culture emphasizes relationships between relatives and clan members, with respect for elders and strong families. Remembering ancestors, their accomplishments and their sufferings, and preserving traditional ways are highly important. Traditionally the Hmong are a patrilineal society with extended households of married sons and their families. The clan is the primary organization of the Hmong who gain lifetime clan membership and relations passed from father to children through birth or adoption.
Members of the same clan accept and assist each other, and clan loyalty is practiced in political and justice issues. If a person is of a particular clan, he is automatically welcomed into the house of another clan member, even if they do not personally know each other.
In general, people are compelled to support members of the same clan more than their in-laws or other non-related clan. The number of clans is commonly said to be 18, though 12 may be considered the main clans. Traditionally, the clans provided any social services required of their members.
Every clan possessed skilled persons who served as healers, marriage brokers, teachers, and disciplinarians. Fellow clan members regard each other as brother and sister. Marriage between members of the same clan — no matter how distant the relationship — is strictly forbidden. In a time of need, an individual will first turn to the clan. The clan is obligated to respond. Clans offer security.
The larger the clan the more services it is able to offer its members including help finding jobs and apartments. In the United States, clans and extended families have often drawn their dispersed members to larger enclave communities of Hmong.
Sub clan is a sub unit of the clan whose members are made of many families who may or may not share the same ancestor but who subscribe to a particular religious practice or ritual, for example certain post-partum, funeral, or taboo rituals.
The affinity of sub clan members to each other is great. Persons of the same clan or sub-clan without any known blood relationship refer to one another as relatives. The sub clan is divided into smaller groups of families, or ceremonial households, who share the same ancestor. Family members are bound by bloodline and share the responsibility and name for the family.
The family is divided into individual extended families consisting of spouses, children, parents and siblings. Extended families often live together under the same roof, though may separate to different dwellings as siblings marry and have children. Traditionally, a large number of relatives that could be readily called upon provided an element of security to farmers who had to move periodically.
In Laos, the Hmong resided in extended families of three or four generations. Having children is important in Hmong culture. Only the ancestors who were parents become spirits that are feared and revered, because they can bring harm to the living descendants. There is a strong desire by Hmong parents to have sons who will offer sacrifices to the ancestral spirits, maintain the family line, and be sanctuary for parents when parents are not able to live by themselves. Keown-Bomar, In traditional Hmong culture, sons were desired because parents could never live in the same house with daughters and sons in-law due to spiritual reasons.
A married daughter and son in-law has a different house and ancestor spirits; therefore two sets of different spirits could never live under the same roof. Although male children are desired and given greater spiritual responsibilities in the family, this does not mean that daughters are given less affection. Nevertheless, couples without sons may seek to adopt them or may allow the husband to marry a second wife in the hope that she will bear male children.
In the US, as many parents consider placing themselves in nursing homes at old age and start understanding the biological reason for conceiving a son or daughter, there is increased acceptance when a couple has only daughters. Pregnancy is considered sacred and especially fragile in the first trimester. Traditionally, young pregnant women are encouraged not to inform others about the pregnancy due to a fear of evil spirits that would endanger the pregnancy leading to spontaneous abortion.
The pregnancy is kept unknown until it becomes self evident in the later trimester cycles. Today, some Hmong women may not seek early prenatal care for this reason. In addition, due to lack of medical knowledge, the gender of the infant is said to be due to the faith luck of the women.
Vue, L. In Hmong culture, mothers and mothers-in-law help at the birth, which often occurs in the squatting position, with the husband helping to cut the cord and wash the newborn infant. Women prefer natural tearing and healing to clinical episiotomies.
Today, a woman requiring a Caesarean section under general anesthetic may have concerns that when her body is cut, her soul will be lost. Traditionally, Hmong believe the placenta is required for reincarnation and bury it at the place of birth, under the house. Traditionally, the woman is kept warm for three days post-partum, and touching cold water is prohibited. In Laos, women lay by fires. In the US, women may wear warm clothes and use heating. Women should drink hot or warm water after birth.
There is a belief that drinking cold water or failing to eat properly can lead to having wrinkles or skin rashes, or walking bent over in old age. In the hospital, women might not eat the hospital diet.
Traditionally they should eat hot rice and chicken soup with special herbs for 30 days post partum. Eggs, pork and some fish may be added after the first 10 days.
No fruit, vegetables or cold drinks are allowed. Physical activity post-partum is also restricted, as this may cause internal organs to collapse. Furthermore, during the first 30 days, a new mom is not permitted to visit other homes.
A identified a case in which the likely source of lead exposure in a young child in the U. It is believed that praising the newborn may cause harm to the baby from the spirits. The ceremony is an occasion for naming the child and for relatives and community members to offer blessings and words of wisdom to the child. Among American Hmong, fewer mothers are breast-feeding than in previous times. Bottle-feeding is preferred for reasons of convenience when the mother returns to work and desires others to feed her infant.
Babies stayed close to their mothers and ate all their meals fresh. Babies were weaned when another child was born. Solid foods were introduced when a child showed interest and were mostly the same foods adults ate, just watered down versions.
In the U. A Hmong child is considered a treasure. The baby is given lots of affection and attention, physical and social contact with mothers, grandmothers and older siblings. In the Thai refugee camps, women adopted Thai-style baby baskets or cradles, often hanging from the tent roof or dwelling while the mother performed chores or embroidery work. Most traditional Hmong families do not want to hear direct comments about their children, especially infants and babies.
Traditionally, the norm in marriage is to raise families with large numbers of children. Children generally grow up with their needs responded to quickly and help in the work of a family at a young age. In Laos, at four, five or six years old a child helps keep watch on the house, doing tasks like hauling water, shucking, milling corn, and carrying a baby sibling; usually a grandmother, uncle or other adult would be nearby in the cluster of family houses.
Children are still young when they begin helping in the farming. Elders tell stories to children, passing knowledge and life lessons between generations. Traditionally a Hmong man would not have much to do with the children when they were still little; not physically affectionate, especially with their daughters.
Hmong teach their children to be well behaved in the presence of guests. Typically, in cases where their children are interrupting or not behaving well in the presence of guests, Hmong parents do not send their children away or discipline them. Discipline is usually administered after the guests have left. In Laos, girls and boys in their adolescent years have the same responsibilities as adults. Young boys are expected to learn from their fathers, and young girls are expected to learn from their mothers.
Boys moved from village to village for the purpose of meeting girls and participating in festivals where they had relatives. The primary means for meeting young people of the opposite sex during the New Year was a ball game that took place at the festivities.
Boys in one line faced girls in another line and tossed small fabric balls back and forth. A boy often would concentrate attention on a certain girl. Often boys and girls would use a secret form of language to communicate with one another. By playing a small mouth harp they could approximate human speech. In Laos, a suitor would play the mouth harp outside the house of the girl he was interested in.
The girl would sometimes reply with her own mouth harp or another instrument, and the dialogue sometimes continued for hours. In the United States, youth use the telephone and email instead of the traditions of ritualized flirting and communication.
New Year celebrations are still a time of courtship and result in many marriages. Traditionally, Hmong women and men work until they no longer can carry out their daily tasks feeding the farm animals, farming, and tending family duties. An adult male is expected to have full knowledge of traditional values passed from his father or male relative. Adult and elderly males are looked upon for wisdom and skills for handling marital conflicts and problems within the community.
Elders may be less respected and feel depressed about their lesser place in the family. Increasingly, elders are placed in nursing homes as families are not able to take care of them and meet the demands of society.
This is an on-line learning module, but you can download the module as a PDF and print the cultural profile by filling out a short survey. Additional cultures and geriatric information also available on their site.
Rice is a staple in Hmong cuisine. Distinctions among various kinds of rice are found in Hmong language — new rice, sweet rice, purple rice, sticky rice, rice in field, harvested rice. Rice is usually eaten at every meal, along with everyday dishes of meats, fish and vegetables, grilled, fried boiled and spiced.
Families eat together around the table, using utensils both in Laos and in the US. No chopsticks are used in Laos. Feasting on special occasions usually includes a menu of roast pig or boiled pork soup, fruit, boiled eggs, egg rolls, seasoned meats, vegetables, rice, and salad. Hmong will commonly grow vegetables and herbs in their gardens or yards here in the US.
Traditionally, during family feasts, males ate first. Depending on the good geographical environment and their hard work, they became a strong nation in the East of China.
They were also known as the "Nine Li" ethnic group or nation. Its leader was Chi You who once led the Hmong to fight with the "Han" ethnic group who lived in the higher reaches of the Yellow River. These two leaders combined their forces to fight with Chi You and his Hmong group.
This war lasted a long time and at the end, the Hmong group lost the war to the Han forces. Chi You, the known Hmong leader at that time, was killed during the war.
Consequently, the rest of the Hmong people were forced to move the South, known today as the First Move or Migration of the Hmong. Later, they established residence in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. During the Yao, Shu, and Yu era, or about B. They fought a bloody war with the "San Miao" and executed any San Miao who were stubborn and disobedient to them.
Because of the superior forces of the Han and their outnumbering of the San Miao, the San Miao were again forced to move southward. In these areas, they lived side by side with other western Chinese ethnic groups. These were the Hmong who moved to the west; later they moved to the south of China, and then entered the present day Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. Since the San Miao period and from Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, or more than years ago, the Hmong situation didn't realize any changes.
They often endured genocide, oppression and the push to move out of their own territory by Han emperors and their armies. These developments led to another migration known as the Third Move or Migration, moving from the East to the West of China.
Many Hmong of the sub-group who called themselves Hmong had already moved to Indochina more than years ago. Some scholars even stated that more than years ago, there were already some Hmong living in the south of Yunan and north of Vietnam. In the 20th century, because of Indochinese political unrest, the Hmong in Indochina suffered many hardships as well as positive developments.
For example, in the mid s, because of the war in Laos, the Hmong of Laos began another move. This time they move to the West and all over the world. The Hmong have been through many difficulties, though they have survived. To reflect the experience of the Hmong, I recall an Australian anthropologist named Kurtis who said, there are two ethnic groups in this world that have been through many hardships but have survived to be strong: they are the Jews and the Hmong in China.
Hmong are not Mongolians Where do Hmong people get the idea that they are Mongols? In China, there are no such historical records and among the Hmong Chinese, they have no such history. I think there are three reasons to cause this belief: 1 Misunderstanding of history, 2 The similarities in Chinese characters use in writing the word "Hmong" and the word "Mong" in Mongols, and 3 The yearning of many Hmong Americans to search for their roots.
The first reason can be reviewed through Chinese history. In A. They ruled China from to , known in history as the Yuan dynasty. The Mongols or the Yuan dynasty conquered China, ruled the country for 90 years, and during this period the Yuan emperors sent Mongol soldiers and officials to every part of China, including the minority areas, to control the country.
In the history of China, the winners have always eliminated the losers and their officials. Because of this practice, when the Han regained power from the Mongols Yuan dynasty in , they not only killed officials of the Mongol emperor, but the Mongols in China.
They live in some temperate areas. In almost every way, the Hmong and Mongols are very different groups of people. They have very little in common except that their names may sound similar to many people. I have been to both Mongolia and many Hmong villages of North Vietnam. I can hardly think of any group of people who are as different as these two groups of people. The Hmong in North Vietnam live in the mountains and grow a lot of corn for pig feed and other animals.
Today many of them still live up the mountains in small farming communities and practice terrace farming. Traditionally the Hmong were also one of the major growers of the opium crop.
On the other hand, the Mongols or Mongolians live in frigid climates. They are mainly nomads who will travel from grazing land to grazing land with their herds of goats, sheep, yaks, and camels. Today, most Mongolian herders will sell the fur from their herds as their main source of income. As herders, they do not stay in a place long enough to grow many vegetables or other plants. I honestly cannot think of more different people than the Hmong and Mongol; everything is different from their lifestyle to how and where they live.
Everything from the way they dress to their religious beliefs to their economies is very different.
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