Hmong Studies Journal Articles 2019 - Present
Access all Hmong Studies Journal articles (1996 - Present) in full text by Volume and Issue Number at the Hmong Studies Journal webpage.
Title: Education Access and Continuity in Northern Laos: – A Comparative Study of the Hmong and Lanten Minorities. Author: Miki Inui. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 47 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the access to school education of the Hmong and Lanten ethnic minority groups in Northern Laos and to examine the continuity of education in these populations. More specifically, the investigation probed when and why many children from these groups tend to withdraw from formal education or never enter it in the first place. Finally, the results obtained from a comparative qualitative analysis were evaluated to contemplate interventions that could help to eliminate the prevalence of outof-school children. In order to achieve these aims, field research was conducted in both Hmong and Lanten villages in 2020. The first key finding includes the unique characteristics and differential causes of OOSCY(Out-of-School Children and Youth) in each village. Previous research on OOSCY tended to lump all ethnic minorities together; however, this study has been able to identify particular features, such as in the Hmong village, that in addition to poverty and tough geographical conditions impacted continuing to secondary education, these factors included early marriage. The second key finding is the importance of grasping the specific time and reasons for dropping out. From certain cases in the Lanten villages, one can discern a pattern of the ages and grades at which students drop out of school. Thus, dropping out could be prevented by providing suitable assistance in these specific grades. In conclusion, investigating the chronology of the discontinuation of education and the generation of appropriate intervention strategies grounded in enrollment patterns would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Title: Role of Family and School Social Capital on Hmong Children’s Perceived Academic Competence. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Jacqueline Braughton, Kyle Nickodem and Jordan St. Charles. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 47 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This study uses Coleman’s (1988) social capital theory to examine the relationship between family and school social capital and perceived academic competence for Hmong students attending Hmong-focused charter schools. The 423 participants surveyed were 3 rd, 4th, and 5th grade students living in Minnesota, with many (48%) receiving English Learner (EL) services. Structural equation modeling indicated that school social capital, measured by school attachment and school connection, was significantly associated with students’ perceived academic competence; however, no association was found with nuclear and extended family social capital. Findings illustrate the role that school environment, especially charter schools that focus on culture and language, has on students’ perceived academic competence. Implications for future research are also discussed.
Title: Review of Immigrant Agency: Hmong American Movements and The Politics of Racialized Incorporation. Author: Yang Lor. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 7 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a book review of Immigrant Agency: Hmong American Movements and The Politics of Racialized Incorporation by Yang Sao Xiong.
Title: Review of Mobility, Globalization and Development of the Hmong: Selected Essays of Nicholas Tapp. Author: Mark E. Pfeifer. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 5 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a review of Mobility, Globalization and Development of the Hmong: Selected Essays of Nicholas Tapp.
Title: Economic Progress of Hmong Americans: The First Twenty-Five Years. Author: Wayne Carroll. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 49 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong refugees from remote highlands in Laos resettled in the U.S. starting in 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. This study uses Census microdata to explore measures of economic progress of Hmong Americans in the first twenty-five years after they began arriving in the U.S. Hmong refugees arrived with low average levels of human capital, so their economic progress was slow at first. Over time, as their English language skills improved and they accumulated more work experience, their labor force participation rates, annual hours worked, and hourly wages rose. Remarkably, the median income of Hmong households rose to parity with other households in the U.S. by about 2000, just twenty-five years after the first wave of refugees arrived.
Title: The Object of Love: Exploring Traditional Baby Carriers Used by the Miao People of the Huawu Village Author: Cho Hsin-ying. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 37 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Huawu Miao Village is located in a closed canyon in the north-west region of Guizhou Province, China. The location is remote and difficult to access. Therefore, the settlement developed a closed, farming-oriented, and self-sustaining living environment. The Huawu Miao men and women often use baby carriers to carry their children on their backs while farming or doing household chores. The baby carrier culture remains universally popular in the village. These carriers reflect the traditional techniques and cultural implications of the local people. In this study, a field survey was adopted as a research approach to gain an understanding of the techniques, pattern designs and meanings of baby carriers used by the Huawu Miao people. The patterns observed in baby carriers are closely related to the historical relocation of the Miao people, local living environments and the Miao creation myth.
Title: Barriers to Diabetes Management Among Hmong: Patients’ and Physicians’ Perspectives. Authors: Lue Lao, Moon S. Chen, Jr., Susan L. Stewart, and Dao M. Fang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, an ethnic group from Laos, have a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 than non-Hispanic Whites, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese [1, 2, 3]. The Hmong immigrated to the United States after the Vietnam War and brought with them their practice of Shamanism and herbal medicine [8, 10]. Religious, cultural, and language differences are potential barriers to medical care for Hmong patients [10]. This qualitative study explored barriers to diabetes management among Hmong patients. We interviewed twenty-one Hmong patients and five physicians at a clinic in Sacramento, California. Patients and physicians agreed that culture, education, attitudes, and beliefs were major barriers. Findings from this study call for public health interventions to improve diabetes management among Hmong patients. Effective interventions may include a culturally and linguistically tailored education class, a community garden to promote exercise and healthy eating, a Hmong diabetic meal plan, and engagements between health centers and the Hmong community.
Title: Review of Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life. Author: Roger Warner. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 7 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a book review of Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life by Chia Youyee Vang.
Title: Exploring Hmong Americans’ Attitudes towards Hmong Traditional Full-Service Funerals: The Hmong
Cultural Integration Project. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Malina Her, Mai Kao Xiong, Wa Houa Vue, Cher Teng Yang, Nao Houa Moua, Nao Khue Yang and Wangsue Lee. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 18 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine what people in the Hmong community think of the length and cost of Hmong traditional full-serve funerals, as well as alcohol use to show gratitude to visitors who attend the funeral. The study is based on survey results from 904 Hmong community members and 23 bereaved Hmong family members in two surveys. The results of the surveys show that most traditional full-service Hmong funerals last three days; they usually start on Saturday and end on Monday. Individuals who were born outside of the US, older than 40 years old, women, and Hmong Christians were more likely to disapprove of multiple funeral service days, the cost of funerals, and alcohol use to show gratitude to visitors. On average, a Hmong funeral costs about $31,843 USD. The paper concludes with suggestions for including specific members of the Hmong community to be part of future planning for a more affordable Hmong funeral.
Title: Dragons, Tigers, and Taoism. Author: David Shalom Strecker. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 18 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The asymmetry between the role of dragons and the role of tigers in Hmong folklore and ritual reflects the interweaving of traditional Hmong animist ideas with ideas from Chinese folk Taoism. Dragons are more Taoist and tigers are more animist.
Title: Comparing Disease Burden of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 between Hmong and other Ethnic Groups. Authors: Lue Lao, Moon S. Chen, Jr. and Susan L. Stewart. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 13 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, an ethnic group in Laos, immigrated to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War.7 Minnesota and California have the largest Hmong populations.9 Hmong were historically farmers and hunter-gatherers with inadequate food supply in Laos. Here in America, with a surplus of food and a sedentary lifestyle, the Hmong are at increased risk for diabetes, hence the Thrifty Gene Hypothesis.3,4,6,11 This retrospective study compares the prevalence and control of diabetes mellitus-type 2 between the Hmong and other ethnic and racial groups at the Health And Life Organization (HALO) clinic in Sacramento, California. A total of 9,285 charts were reviewed. The Hmong had the highest prevalence but poorest control of diabetes mellitus when compared with the Laotian, Vietnamese, Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics (chi-square p-value <.0001 for difference in prevalence and control). This paper calls for future studies to explore barriers to management and modifiable risk factors among Hmong diabetic patients.
Title: Changes, Conflict, and Culture: The Status of Social-Cultural, Environmental, and Legal Challenges for Hmong Cultural Practices in Contemporary California. Author: Danny Vincent DeSantiago. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 41 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Refugee resettlement is often a long and traumatic experience that can take years to fully overcome. The Hmong are an ethnic group that struggled to accustom to western society during their initial arrivals in the 1970s onward. Although they have made immense progress, many practices and perspectives still come at odds with those in the west. Many refugee interventions have failed to acknowledge the deep socio-cultural conflicts and challenges that arise within the host country. The Hmong’s adaptation in America is still an evolving situation where many are still learning to navigate their culture through the novel environment. Through an ethnographic study using narrative and comparative analysis between the Hmong in California and Thailand, this study explored the challenges and conflicts that continue from socio-cultural, environmental, and legal obstacles for cultural practices in contemporary California. Through the Hmong’s own personal narratives, the essay reveals that the Hmong still regularly encounter conflicts and challenges in funeral, spiritual, geomantic, and agriculture practices. Socio-cultural and legal barriers pose the greatest challenge from non-Hmong residents and state authorities who still do not recognize the Hmong traditions. Revealing continuing challenges may further support future initiatives to continue developing culturally relevant solutions for the Hmong and other refugee resettlements.
Title: Veterans from Laos: War, Remembrance, Ritual, Rank, Racism, and the Making of Hmong and Lao America Authors: Ian Baird and Paul Hillmer. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 37 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong and Lao veterans of the Secret War in Laos in the United States have become less active in anti-communist activities, especially since the Hmong former general, Vang Pao, was charged in 2007 with attempting to overthrow the Lao government. Although the charges were eventually dropped, interest in veterans’ groups and “US National Defense” groups has increased in recent years, as attention has shifted from trying to find a way to return to Laos victoriously, to seeking recognition from the US government for their contributions during the Secret War. Hmong and Lao veterans have used these groups to gain recognition within their own communities, and with American society more broadly; to gain military rank; to connect their service to the US government in Laos with their current lives in America; and crucially, to indirectly gain legitimation or to respond to racism that they have experienced in the United States. Some veterans are simply hoping for recognition; others would like to receive burial or other financial benefits.
Title: From Networks to Categories: Hmong Political Positionality, Mobility, and Remnant Subjectivities in Thailand. Author: David M. Chambers. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 46 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article discusses subjectivities of Hmong people (especially immigrants) as they are articulated to power networks in Thailand's space. Whereas some looks at Hmong spatiality have viewed Hmong people as a politically uncomplicated group in relation to the Thai state (Tomforde 2008). I fragment this picture exposing the mosaic of Hmong political identities in Thailand with some in positions of precarity and others in stability. In the chapter, I show how these positionalities are strongly influenced by a historical sequence of regional geopolitical and economic contexts which produce subjectivities as their corresponding power relations, immigration regimes, and citizenship categorizations act on the bodies of Hmong subjects. The road toward eventual precarity is marked by several signposts signaling conditions for the formation of power relations and their corresponding subjectivities which Hmong communities have made intelligible through semi-ethnic categorizations. I highlight differences in these autonymic categories within the Thai Hmong, Lao Hmong, and Vietnamese Hmong. Then I examine each group's mobilities as indicators of their relative precarity.
Title: The Need for Critical Race Consciousness in Critical Hmong Studies. Author: Christin DePouw. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 30 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This conceptual paper draws upon critical race theory (CRT) in education and whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) to reflect on the need for critical Hmong studies to include the development of critical race consciousness as an important goal of the field. The paper focuses on the racism within community and campus contexts in Wisconsin and how critical Hmong studies could empower students to successfully navigate race and power within their personal and professional lives. Wisconsin’s racial context includes anti-Hmong hostility, deficit and exotic framings of Hmong culture (DePouw, 2012), and racial triangulation (Kim, 1999) of Hmong Americans as “model minorities” in relation to other minoritized groups such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, or Somali Americans (Ngo & Lee, 2007; Lee, et al., 2017). The common thread is deploying white supremacy through an essentialized and racialized version of Hmong “culture” (DePouw, 2012), not only in mainstream society but also in educational spaces such as the University of Wisconsin System (UW System). To many educational institutions such as the UW System, a focus on culture or identity may appear less threatening because “culture” allows white supremacy and institutional racism to remain unnamed and therefore uncontested. One of the challenges for critical Hmong studies is to try to maintain institutional support while also educating its students to develop critical consciousness around race and other forms of oppression, and to foster student agency to address issues relevant to Hmong American communities. Critical race studies in education and the analytical tool of whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) are necessary to support critical Hmong studies in advancing the goals of critical thinking and agency within institutional and social context.
Title: Loyal Soldier, Fearsome Terrorists: The Hmong as a Martial Race in Southeast Asia and the United States. Author: Alex Hopp. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 30 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Martial race theory, an ideological construction used to organize colonial hegemony, acted as a lens through which the French and the United States understood the Hmong in Southeast Asia. In the early 20th century, Laotian Hmong resistance to French colonialism was interpreted as evidence of the martial qualities of the Hmong. Subsequently, a combined French-Hmong resistance against the Japanese occupation of Indochina cemented their “martial” status and both informed and retroactively “justified” the U.S. decision to recruit the Hmong during the Secret War. In the aftermath of the Secret War, the flight of Hmong refugees to the United States brought martial race theory to American soil, evidenced by legislation designed to honor Hmong veterans and by the designation of certain Hmong as terrorists following 9/11. Overall, this classification of the Hmong as a martial race illustrates the ways that colonial legacies remain impactful even today, both for the colonial subject and for the imperial power.
Title: Experiential Learning and Research for Undergraduates in Public Health: Transferring Focus Group Research to Peer Reviewed Journal Publication and Public Health Practice. Authors: Susi Keefe and Michelle Gin. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 15 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: University collaboration with public health agencies is a proven effective way to connect students and faculty to real world local public health problems (Neri et al., 2014; Greece et al., 2018). An undergraduate capstone Senior Seminar course worked with a Minnesota state agency and community initiative, the Mercury in Skin Lightening Products Workgroup to address the use of toxic skin lightening products in Minnesota. Students conducted focus group research with Hmong college students in St. Paul, MN on the topic of skin lightening products. Since the end of the course, six students wrote a research paper that was accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal and applied their knowledge into public health practice (Keefe et al., 2018). This article explores the high impact of courses with community and agency collaborations with emphasis on the potential to publish findings from research with undergraduates.
Title: Hmong Survivors: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Identity. Author: Mao S. Lee Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 29 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: About 15,000 Hmong refugees from Wat Tham Krabot (WTK), Thailand resettled in the U.S. in the 2000’s. Since their resettlement, these families have lived in America for fifteen years. Besides knowing that they are the most recent group of Hmong refugees, it is unknown how Hmong parents of this cohort perceive themselves. This ethnographic study aims at finding the answer to this question by interviewing nine Hmong parents from the second wave. Results reveal that these parents’ perceptions of their identity are based on their socio-historical experiences. Their lived experiences across multiple countries, namely Laos, Thailand, and the U.S. play a vital role in their identity development. Aside from their refugee narratives, group comparison also inevitably plays a role in how they identify themselves. Subsequently, these parents do not want a nationality suffix, such as American or Thai, attached to their identity. Rather, these parents see themselves as Hmong Survivors, an identity that both represents their lack of a nation-state and their refugee background.
Title: An Explanation of the Logic of Hmong RPA. Author: Chô Ly. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 15 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong RPA is probably the most used Hmong alphabet worldwide. Although the creators of the alphabet describe it as a coherent alphabet, it is often misunderstood by the Hmong people and as a result, many have adapted it by changing some consonant clusters by another association of letters that would make more sense to them. This paper aims at explaining the logic behind the consonant clusters starting with N (nc, ndl, ntx, ntsh, nplh, etc., called prenasalized consonants) in simple terms so that Hmong people understand the coherence mentioned by Bertrais (1991). After having explained the “rule” behind the choice of these letter combinations, the author analyzes the sounds made by all of them in alphabetical order to show that these prenasalized consonants all follow the same rule. It is hoped that this paper will help Hmong people understand the Hmong alphabet better and learn it more easily.
Title: Hidden Melodies of the Hmong Language: The Rhythmers. Authors: Yuna Thao, Choua Yang, & Chô Ly. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 17 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Rhythmers are used in the Hmong language. However, there is no literature on them. The word rhythmer itself is not in the English dictionary; it was first observed and termed by Dr. Cho Ly in his Ph.D. dissertation (Ly, 2004). The objective of this study is to further understand the meaning of rhythmers by analyzing approximately 100 sentences with rhythmers. The rhythmers studied consisted of those taken from Dr. Ly’s Ph.D. data and everyday dialogue. After observation, it was discovered that rhythmers add meaning to sentences and/or change the meaning of the sentences. In some cases, they only add rhythm to sentences and help the sentences flow better. They are not necessarily meaningless words. They are usually placed at the end or beginning of sentences or at the end of a clause. Nonetheless, they cannot be used randomly. Therefore, the rhythmers are a new part of speech.
Title: Gender Theory and Cultural Considerations in Understanding Hmong Homicide-Suicide. Author: Pa Thor. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 24 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Homicide-suicide is when a perpetrator kills an individual(s) and then subsequently dies by suicide. In the United States, homicide-suicide accounts for approximately 1,000-1,500 deaths per year, primarily in the context of spousal relationships. Intimate partner homicide-suicides occur as the result of an actual or impending relationship breakdown, bringing emotional strain to surviving individuals and their communities. This paper uses the theoretical framework of male sexual property to examine how traditional gender roles and marital practices are conducive to Hmong homicide-suicide. The increased frequency of Hmong homicide-suicide have challenged the Hmong’s acculturation in understanding and addressing gender-based violence. The paper discusses two case examples of Hmong intimate partner homicide-suicide (IPHS) to highlight the marital practices and gender role expectations among the Hmong culture. While Hmong have made considerable progress both collectively and individually, gender-based violence connects to and is addressed based on traditional collectivist values and beliefs. The discussion focuses on addressing homicide-suicide facilitators as they relate to the integration and advancement of Hmong in western society.
Title: Self-Construal: Perceptions of Work and School in Two Generations of Hmong Immigrants. Author: Pa Der Vang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This paper describes a research project in which 40 Hmong participants were interviewed comparing two generations of Hmong immigrants. Self-construal served as an operating framework in understanding respondent satisfaction with work and school; two very salient features in individual functioning and worldview. Self-construal is the manner in which the client views themselves in relation to others and is influenced by culture. The researcher compared perceptions of work and school among first and generation immigrants in terms of work in relation to self-construal. The study of self-construal is important for social workers and other service providers who work with immigrants and refugees as it informs cross cultural practice. Understanding culturally informed views on client satisfaction and perceptions will help social workers gain a stronger understanding of the client experience and work cross culturally with clients.
Title: Celebrating Hmong New Year Not for the New Year Celebration: A Case Study in Urban Community in Chiang Mai City, Thailand. Author: Urai Yangcheepsutjarit. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 25 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This paper is an attempt to give a critical examination of the contemporary Hmong New Year celebrations in Thailand particularly the New Year celebration hosted by Hmong entrepreneurs from January 15-17, 2016 at the Tribal Museum, Chiang Mai. The study is based on my interviews with Hmong entrepreneurs, written materials such as newspapers, data available on websites and my observations and participation in the New Year celebrations. The chapter aims at better understanding Hmong New Year celebrations held in Chiang Mai City since the 1990s. The focus is on the shift of the Hmong New Year celebration from rural areas to urban areas and how this cultural festival has been turned or used for different purposes by various Hmong networks over time. This New Year celebration in Chiang Mai City can be thought of an example of the present trend of holding New Year celebrations elsewhere. My argument is that even though the trend in New Year celebrations has been locally reshaped according to a national context, it is still a transnational practice shared by all Hmong in different nation states. In fact, it is through the New Year celebration that the diaspora Hmong maintain their sense of belonging to the same ‘national’ identity.
Title: The Gu: An Anthropological Viewpoint on the Stigmatization of the Miao-Yao People. Author: Lan Yongshi. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 25 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Gu in Chinese “蛊”, is a kind of witchcraft. There are still some unfounded rumors that the keepers of the Gu gather hundreds of worms and perform magic arts in order to murder for gain. However, as it coincided with the southern environment, local diseases and regional culture, from the Sui and Tang dynasties on, it came to be regarded as an evil custom peculiar to some areas of southern China. With the gradual development of the South, the scope of the legendary “Gu” moved south as mainstream culture expanded into the southern regions of China; as far as Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and the Southwest, the south of the Yangtze River. Rather than being a simple matter of witchcraft, “Gu” embodies the self-centered, beggar-thy-neighbor way in which the ruling clique imagines and constructs the other. Consequently, the ruling group imagined and constructed the boundary between mainstream society and the marginalized society of “Gu”, in order to maximize national resources and power and the high integration of its own society, while excluding those societies who still practiced the “Gu”. Step by step, the ethnic group accused of having the “Gu” thus internalized and absorbed the stigma imposed onto them by mainstream society, reflecting the subtleties that exist, such as stigma, within marginalized cultures who must confront the dominant culture.
Title: Revamping Beliefs, Reforming Rituals, and Performing Hmongness? A Case Study of Temple of Hmongism. Author: Weidong Zhang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 28 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Temple of Hmongism is a membership-based non-profit, new religious organization first launched in 2012 from St Paul, Minnesota, to promote Hmongism, a simplified version of traditional religion “Dab Qhuas Hmoob,” in Hmong immigrant communities around the US. This is a group of Hmong men and women who, through research and deliberation, strive to consolidate and institutionalize the indigenous Hmong beliefs taken with them from Asia, while at the same time, reform various religious rituals and practices in all areas, including Shamanism, weddings, and funerals, in the hope of making them “much simpler, less costly, and more friendly” and “full of Hmong identity and pride” in their newly adopted land. How does Temple of Hmongism revamp a system of traditional religious beliefs? What does it mean to a transnational Hmong community? Does it signify a continuous traditionalist or culturalist move, a move to search for Hmong identity, and a cultural resistance to the encircle and encroachment of traditional Hmong society by contesting and combating a dominant mainstream power from outside? In what way does Temple of Hmongism redefine Hmongness, the meaning of being Hmong? And how is it performed in religious rituals and everyday lives? Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with members of this religious organization, as well as participant observation at different religious practices, this study strives to understand this growing new religious movement in the transnational Hmong community, and see how religious faith, cultural heritage, and ethnic identity intersect and interact with each other.
Title: Commentary: Constructing Refugees in the Academic Discourse: The Hmong in America. Author: Marc Dorpema. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 33 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Produced in a historiographical spirit, this literature review traces trends in the depiction of Hmong Americans not in popular representations such as newspapers or public perception, but in the American academic discourse itself. By adopting a thematic approach, it evidences the curious chronological development of which aspects of Hmong studies were treated in which way from the 1980s until the present. To this extent, the paper argues that while the 1980s and 1990s saw a heavy emphasis on social scientific studies of Hmong family ties and clan structure which, while careful and mostly sensitive in their treatment, nevertheless on occasion construct the Hmong as either irreconcilably or undesirably different(sections I and II). It then proceeds to crystallise the significant treatment of education with respect to the Hmong, which, produced in particular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, presented powerful cases of forced assimilation through the lens of Hmong Americans themselves(section III).A brief fourth section focuses on the marginal role ascribed to economic problems encountered by the Hmong, treated as almost inevitable.Crucially, the fifth section proceeds to problematise more recent feminist critiques.The argument presented here is that their central drawback lies in the appropriation and overriding of Hmong voices for a particular project.This construction of Hmong voices, finally, is on the retreat in most recent studies which, centred on horticulture, music, rituals and medicine –to name but a few –attempt to elucidate the Hmong American experience through the lens of the protagonists themselves. This is an important step, and one which must be pursued further.
Title: Influence of Perceived Parental Involvement on Hmong Children’s Academic Performance. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Kyle Nickodem, Jordan St. Charles, Sun-Kyung Lee, Jacqueline Braughton, Chen Vue, and Nancy Lo. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 39 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine what predicted parental involvement based on children’s report and whether parental involvement serves as an advantage to children’s math and reading abilitiesand academic performance. This study included 380 students (179boys and 201girls) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades from five Hmong-focused charter schools in Minnesota. It was found that gender, number of siblings, and temperament were predictive of home-based parent involvement, while ethnicity, temperament, and language spoken with parents was predictive of school-based parent involvement. Subsequently, school-based parent involvement was predictive of children’s self-reported academic competence and academic performance. Overall, the model explains 8.3% and 21.7% of the variation in home-and school-based involvement, respectively, and explains 11.9% and 4.1% of the variation in reported academic competence and academic performance, respectively. The study ends with some implications and future research with Hmong students and parents.
Title: The Miao in China: A Review of Developments and Achievements over Seventy Years. Authors: Tian Shi, Xiao Hua Wu, De Bin Wang and Yan Lei. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Since 1949, the Miao nationality in China has encountered historic opportunities for development. This paper reviews four aspects of the historical achievements of the Miao nationality in China: education, youth organizations, cultural heritage, and new media and women’s empowerment. By analyzing official statistics and autoethnographic data, we demonstrate that the agency of the Miao has contributed to these historical achievements. We argue that the Miao have seized many chances to promote development. Moreover, this paper emphasizes that the Miao have diverse cultures and an imbalance in development in various areas. These diverse features demonstrate that a single criterion cannot be used to measure the complicated situation and we call for further transdisciplinary research.
Title: The impact of language brokering on Hmong college students’ parent-child relationship and academic persistence. Authors: Kikuko Omori and Kyoko Kishimoto. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 43 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Using children as language brokers is a common practice in many migrant families. However, the particular contexts for language brokering and cultural impacts vary depending on migrant groups. Much of the literature on the impact of children’s language brokering on migrant families has focused on Latinx families and some Asian (predominantly Chinese) immigrant families.This study is the first,to our knowledge, that focuses on the impact of language brokering among Hmong refugee families in the United States. Using multi-method studies, we administered an online survey and conducted focus group interviews to understand Hmong college students’ language brokering practices in one Midwestern university and the impact this practice had on the relationships with their parents. Our results showed the diverse situations in which the students provided translations for their parent(s). Students also felt that language brokering helped them become bicultural and bilingual and that it brought them closer to their parents and Hmong culture.Student perspectives on the impact of language brokering on family relations and academic persistence are further discussed
Title: A Hmong Story Cloth Featuring Mak Phout (Lima Site 137) In Northern Laos: Rare in Content and Artistic Detail. Authors: Linda A. Gerdner, Lee Gossett and Frederic C. Benson. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 44 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, who allied with the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and the United States during the “Secret War” in Laos, were forced to flee their homeland when the RLG fell to Communist control. They escaped to refugee camps in Thailand. During confinement the women drew upon their exceptional needlework skills and lived experiences to create a new art formusing a culturally relevant medium to embroider colorful images on cloth to tell their stories. This article features a rare story cloth depicting military operations and life at Lima Site 137 during the “Secret War. ”Because little information is available about this specific site, the article begins with background information onthe overall purpose of Lima Sites with emphasis on those that are more well known. The article advances with a photo of Hmong refugees establishing a temporary shelter in the jungle after fleeing from the Communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese soldiers.A portion of these refugees eventually found safety at Lima Site 137, providing a segue to the featured story cloth. This ethnographic textile art is supplemented with rare photos and the first-hand experiences of Retired Captain Lee Gossett and Frederic Benson. Both provided humanitarian effort to the Royal Lao Government and the Hmong people affected by the war. Extended efforts were made to talk to Hmong individuals who had experienced life at LS-137, but those we learned of were no longer available to share their stories.Select photos of daily life at other Lima Sites add breadth and depth to our understanding of life during the war as experienced by both the refugees and the United States humanitarians who served them
Title: Neo-Rural Hmong in French Guiana. Author: Marie-Odile Géraud. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 27 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong have been living in French Guiana since 1977. They are mainly market gardeners and live in two main villages, which are mostly mono-ethnic. At the end of the 1990s, a new Hmong settlement, Corossony, was founded by Hmong from mainland France, neo-rural and neo-agriculturalists, driven by a more individualistic lifestyle and aspiring to work towards ideals of freedom, a return to a more authentically Hmong existence and social success. This study examines the characteristics of these neo-residents who stand apart from other Hmong in French Guiana, living in a way they perceive to be at variance with their previous lives in France. Their situation must be analyzed less as a new relationship to the rural world and to agriculture or a reappropriation of a past way of life than as a counter-model to their integration in mainland France.
Access all Hmong Studies Journal articles (1996 - Present) in full text by Volume and Issue Number at the Hmong Studies Journal webpage.
Title: Education Access and Continuity in Northern Laos: – A Comparative Study of the Hmong and Lanten Minorities. Author: Miki Inui. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 47 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the access to school education of the Hmong and Lanten ethnic minority groups in Northern Laos and to examine the continuity of education in these populations. More specifically, the investigation probed when and why many children from these groups tend to withdraw from formal education or never enter it in the first place. Finally, the results obtained from a comparative qualitative analysis were evaluated to contemplate interventions that could help to eliminate the prevalence of outof-school children. In order to achieve these aims, field research was conducted in both Hmong and Lanten villages in 2020. The first key finding includes the unique characteristics and differential causes of OOSCY(Out-of-School Children and Youth) in each village. Previous research on OOSCY tended to lump all ethnic minorities together; however, this study has been able to identify particular features, such as in the Hmong village, that in addition to poverty and tough geographical conditions impacted continuing to secondary education, these factors included early marriage. The second key finding is the importance of grasping the specific time and reasons for dropping out. From certain cases in the Lanten villages, one can discern a pattern of the ages and grades at which students drop out of school. Thus, dropping out could be prevented by providing suitable assistance in these specific grades. In conclusion, investigating the chronology of the discontinuation of education and the generation of appropriate intervention strategies grounded in enrollment patterns would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Title: Role of Family and School Social Capital on Hmong Children’s Perceived Academic Competence. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Jacqueline Braughton, Kyle Nickodem and Jordan St. Charles. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 47 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This study uses Coleman’s (1988) social capital theory to examine the relationship between family and school social capital and perceived academic competence for Hmong students attending Hmong-focused charter schools. The 423 participants surveyed were 3 rd, 4th, and 5th grade students living in Minnesota, with many (48%) receiving English Learner (EL) services. Structural equation modeling indicated that school social capital, measured by school attachment and school connection, was significantly associated with students’ perceived academic competence; however, no association was found with nuclear and extended family social capital. Findings illustrate the role that school environment, especially charter schools that focus on culture and language, has on students’ perceived academic competence. Implications for future research are also discussed.
Title: Review of Immigrant Agency: Hmong American Movements and The Politics of Racialized Incorporation. Author: Yang Lor. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 7 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a book review of Immigrant Agency: Hmong American Movements and The Politics of Racialized Incorporation by Yang Sao Xiong.
Title: Review of Mobility, Globalization and Development of the Hmong: Selected Essays of Nicholas Tapp. Author: Mark E. Pfeifer. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: Volume 24. Pagination: 5 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a review of Mobility, Globalization and Development of the Hmong: Selected Essays of Nicholas Tapp.
Title: Economic Progress of Hmong Americans: The First Twenty-Five Years. Author: Wayne Carroll. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 49 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong refugees from remote highlands in Laos resettled in the U.S. starting in 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. This study uses Census microdata to explore measures of economic progress of Hmong Americans in the first twenty-five years after they began arriving in the U.S. Hmong refugees arrived with low average levels of human capital, so their economic progress was slow at first. Over time, as their English language skills improved and they accumulated more work experience, their labor force participation rates, annual hours worked, and hourly wages rose. Remarkably, the median income of Hmong households rose to parity with other households in the U.S. by about 2000, just twenty-five years after the first wave of refugees arrived.
Title: The Object of Love: Exploring Traditional Baby Carriers Used by the Miao People of the Huawu Village Author: Cho Hsin-ying. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 37 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Huawu Miao Village is located in a closed canyon in the north-west region of Guizhou Province, China. The location is remote and difficult to access. Therefore, the settlement developed a closed, farming-oriented, and self-sustaining living environment. The Huawu Miao men and women often use baby carriers to carry their children on their backs while farming or doing household chores. The baby carrier culture remains universally popular in the village. These carriers reflect the traditional techniques and cultural implications of the local people. In this study, a field survey was adopted as a research approach to gain an understanding of the techniques, pattern designs and meanings of baby carriers used by the Huawu Miao people. The patterns observed in baby carriers are closely related to the historical relocation of the Miao people, local living environments and the Miao creation myth.
Title: Barriers to Diabetes Management Among Hmong: Patients’ and Physicians’ Perspectives. Authors: Lue Lao, Moon S. Chen, Jr., Susan L. Stewart, and Dao M. Fang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, an ethnic group from Laos, have a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 than non-Hispanic Whites, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese [1, 2, 3]. The Hmong immigrated to the United States after the Vietnam War and brought with them their practice of Shamanism and herbal medicine [8, 10]. Religious, cultural, and language differences are potential barriers to medical care for Hmong patients [10]. This qualitative study explored barriers to diabetes management among Hmong patients. We interviewed twenty-one Hmong patients and five physicians at a clinic in Sacramento, California. Patients and physicians agreed that culture, education, attitudes, and beliefs were major barriers. Findings from this study call for public health interventions to improve diabetes management among Hmong patients. Effective interventions may include a culturally and linguistically tailored education class, a community garden to promote exercise and healthy eating, a Hmong diabetic meal plan, and engagements between health centers and the Hmong community.
Title: Review of Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life. Author: Roger Warner. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2021. Additional Source Information: Volume 23. Pagination: 7 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article provides a book review of Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life by Chia Youyee Vang.
Title: Exploring Hmong Americans’ Attitudes towards Hmong Traditional Full-Service Funerals: The Hmong
Cultural Integration Project. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Malina Her, Mai Kao Xiong, Wa Houa Vue, Cher Teng Yang, Nao Houa Moua, Nao Khue Yang and Wangsue Lee. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 18 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine what people in the Hmong community think of the length and cost of Hmong traditional full-serve funerals, as well as alcohol use to show gratitude to visitors who attend the funeral. The study is based on survey results from 904 Hmong community members and 23 bereaved Hmong family members in two surveys. The results of the surveys show that most traditional full-service Hmong funerals last three days; they usually start on Saturday and end on Monday. Individuals who were born outside of the US, older than 40 years old, women, and Hmong Christians were more likely to disapprove of multiple funeral service days, the cost of funerals, and alcohol use to show gratitude to visitors. On average, a Hmong funeral costs about $31,843 USD. The paper concludes with suggestions for including specific members of the Hmong community to be part of future planning for a more affordable Hmong funeral.
Title: Dragons, Tigers, and Taoism. Author: David Shalom Strecker. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 18 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The asymmetry between the role of dragons and the role of tigers in Hmong folklore and ritual reflects the interweaving of traditional Hmong animist ideas with ideas from Chinese folk Taoism. Dragons are more Taoist and tigers are more animist.
Title: Comparing Disease Burden of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 between Hmong and other Ethnic Groups. Authors: Lue Lao, Moon S. Chen, Jr. and Susan L. Stewart. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 13 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, an ethnic group in Laos, immigrated to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War.7 Minnesota and California have the largest Hmong populations.9 Hmong were historically farmers and hunter-gatherers with inadequate food supply in Laos. Here in America, with a surplus of food and a sedentary lifestyle, the Hmong are at increased risk for diabetes, hence the Thrifty Gene Hypothesis.3,4,6,11 This retrospective study compares the prevalence and control of diabetes mellitus-type 2 between the Hmong and other ethnic and racial groups at the Health And Life Organization (HALO) clinic in Sacramento, California. A total of 9,285 charts were reviewed. The Hmong had the highest prevalence but poorest control of diabetes mellitus when compared with the Laotian, Vietnamese, Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics (chi-square p-value <.0001 for difference in prevalence and control). This paper calls for future studies to explore barriers to management and modifiable risk factors among Hmong diabetic patients.
Title: Changes, Conflict, and Culture: The Status of Social-Cultural, Environmental, and Legal Challenges for Hmong Cultural Practices in Contemporary California. Author: Danny Vincent DeSantiago. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 22. Pagination: 41 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Refugee resettlement is often a long and traumatic experience that can take years to fully overcome. The Hmong are an ethnic group that struggled to accustom to western society during their initial arrivals in the 1970s onward. Although they have made immense progress, many practices and perspectives still come at odds with those in the west. Many refugee interventions have failed to acknowledge the deep socio-cultural conflicts and challenges that arise within the host country. The Hmong’s adaptation in America is still an evolving situation where many are still learning to navigate their culture through the novel environment. Through an ethnographic study using narrative and comparative analysis between the Hmong in California and Thailand, this study explored the challenges and conflicts that continue from socio-cultural, environmental, and legal obstacles for cultural practices in contemporary California. Through the Hmong’s own personal narratives, the essay reveals that the Hmong still regularly encounter conflicts and challenges in funeral, spiritual, geomantic, and agriculture practices. Socio-cultural and legal barriers pose the greatest challenge from non-Hmong residents and state authorities who still do not recognize the Hmong traditions. Revealing continuing challenges may further support future initiatives to continue developing culturally relevant solutions for the Hmong and other refugee resettlements.
Title: Veterans from Laos: War, Remembrance, Ritual, Rank, Racism, and the Making of Hmong and Lao America Authors: Ian Baird and Paul Hillmer. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 37 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong and Lao veterans of the Secret War in Laos in the United States have become less active in anti-communist activities, especially since the Hmong former general, Vang Pao, was charged in 2007 with attempting to overthrow the Lao government. Although the charges were eventually dropped, interest in veterans’ groups and “US National Defense” groups has increased in recent years, as attention has shifted from trying to find a way to return to Laos victoriously, to seeking recognition from the US government for their contributions during the Secret War. Hmong and Lao veterans have used these groups to gain recognition within their own communities, and with American society more broadly; to gain military rank; to connect their service to the US government in Laos with their current lives in America; and crucially, to indirectly gain legitimation or to respond to racism that they have experienced in the United States. Some veterans are simply hoping for recognition; others would like to receive burial or other financial benefits.
Title: From Networks to Categories: Hmong Political Positionality, Mobility, and Remnant Subjectivities in Thailand. Author: David M. Chambers. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 46 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This article discusses subjectivities of Hmong people (especially immigrants) as they are articulated to power networks in Thailand's space. Whereas some looks at Hmong spatiality have viewed Hmong people as a politically uncomplicated group in relation to the Thai state (Tomforde 2008). I fragment this picture exposing the mosaic of Hmong political identities in Thailand with some in positions of precarity and others in stability. In the chapter, I show how these positionalities are strongly influenced by a historical sequence of regional geopolitical and economic contexts which produce subjectivities as their corresponding power relations, immigration regimes, and citizenship categorizations act on the bodies of Hmong subjects. The road toward eventual precarity is marked by several signposts signaling conditions for the formation of power relations and their corresponding subjectivities which Hmong communities have made intelligible through semi-ethnic categorizations. I highlight differences in these autonymic categories within the Thai Hmong, Lao Hmong, and Vietnamese Hmong. Then I examine each group's mobilities as indicators of their relative precarity.
Title: The Need for Critical Race Consciousness in Critical Hmong Studies. Author: Christin DePouw. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 30 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This conceptual paper draws upon critical race theory (CRT) in education and whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) to reflect on the need for critical Hmong studies to include the development of critical race consciousness as an important goal of the field. The paper focuses on the racism within community and campus contexts in Wisconsin and how critical Hmong studies could empower students to successfully navigate race and power within their personal and professional lives. Wisconsin’s racial context includes anti-Hmong hostility, deficit and exotic framings of Hmong culture (DePouw, 2012), and racial triangulation (Kim, 1999) of Hmong Americans as “model minorities” in relation to other minoritized groups such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, or Somali Americans (Ngo & Lee, 2007; Lee, et al., 2017). The common thread is deploying white supremacy through an essentialized and racialized version of Hmong “culture” (DePouw, 2012), not only in mainstream society but also in educational spaces such as the University of Wisconsin System (UW System). To many educational institutions such as the UW System, a focus on culture or identity may appear less threatening because “culture” allows white supremacy and institutional racism to remain unnamed and therefore uncontested. One of the challenges for critical Hmong studies is to try to maintain institutional support while also educating its students to develop critical consciousness around race and other forms of oppression, and to foster student agency to address issues relevant to Hmong American communities. Critical race studies in education and the analytical tool of whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) are necessary to support critical Hmong studies in advancing the goals of critical thinking and agency within institutional and social context.
Title: Loyal Soldier, Fearsome Terrorists: The Hmong as a Martial Race in Southeast Asia and the United States. Author: Alex Hopp. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 30 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Martial race theory, an ideological construction used to organize colonial hegemony, acted as a lens through which the French and the United States understood the Hmong in Southeast Asia. In the early 20th century, Laotian Hmong resistance to French colonialism was interpreted as evidence of the martial qualities of the Hmong. Subsequently, a combined French-Hmong resistance against the Japanese occupation of Indochina cemented their “martial” status and both informed and retroactively “justified” the U.S. decision to recruit the Hmong during the Secret War. In the aftermath of the Secret War, the flight of Hmong refugees to the United States brought martial race theory to American soil, evidenced by legislation designed to honor Hmong veterans and by the designation of certain Hmong as terrorists following 9/11. Overall, this classification of the Hmong as a martial race illustrates the ways that colonial legacies remain impactful even today, both for the colonial subject and for the imperial power.
Title: Experiential Learning and Research for Undergraduates in Public Health: Transferring Focus Group Research to Peer Reviewed Journal Publication and Public Health Practice. Authors: Susi Keefe and Michelle Gin. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 15 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: University collaboration with public health agencies is a proven effective way to connect students and faculty to real world local public health problems (Neri et al., 2014; Greece et al., 2018). An undergraduate capstone Senior Seminar course worked with a Minnesota state agency and community initiative, the Mercury in Skin Lightening Products Workgroup to address the use of toxic skin lightening products in Minnesota. Students conducted focus group research with Hmong college students in St. Paul, MN on the topic of skin lightening products. Since the end of the course, six students wrote a research paper that was accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal and applied their knowledge into public health practice (Keefe et al., 2018). This article explores the high impact of courses with community and agency collaborations with emphasis on the potential to publish findings from research with undergraduates.
Title: Hmong Survivors: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Identity. Author: Mao S. Lee Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 29 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: About 15,000 Hmong refugees from Wat Tham Krabot (WTK), Thailand resettled in the U.S. in the 2000’s. Since their resettlement, these families have lived in America for fifteen years. Besides knowing that they are the most recent group of Hmong refugees, it is unknown how Hmong parents of this cohort perceive themselves. This ethnographic study aims at finding the answer to this question by interviewing nine Hmong parents from the second wave. Results reveal that these parents’ perceptions of their identity are based on their socio-historical experiences. Their lived experiences across multiple countries, namely Laos, Thailand, and the U.S. play a vital role in their identity development. Aside from their refugee narratives, group comparison also inevitably plays a role in how they identify themselves. Subsequently, these parents do not want a nationality suffix, such as American or Thai, attached to their identity. Rather, these parents see themselves as Hmong Survivors, an identity that both represents their lack of a nation-state and their refugee background.
Title: An Explanation of the Logic of Hmong RPA. Author: Chô Ly. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 15 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Hmong RPA is probably the most used Hmong alphabet worldwide. Although the creators of the alphabet describe it as a coherent alphabet, it is often misunderstood by the Hmong people and as a result, many have adapted it by changing some consonant clusters by another association of letters that would make more sense to them. This paper aims at explaining the logic behind the consonant clusters starting with N (nc, ndl, ntx, ntsh, nplh, etc., called prenasalized consonants) in simple terms so that Hmong people understand the coherence mentioned by Bertrais (1991). After having explained the “rule” behind the choice of these letter combinations, the author analyzes the sounds made by all of them in alphabetical order to show that these prenasalized consonants all follow the same rule. It is hoped that this paper will help Hmong people understand the Hmong alphabet better and learn it more easily.
Title: Hidden Melodies of the Hmong Language: The Rhythmers. Authors: Yuna Thao, Choua Yang, & Chô Ly. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 17 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Rhythmers are used in the Hmong language. However, there is no literature on them. The word rhythmer itself is not in the English dictionary; it was first observed and termed by Dr. Cho Ly in his Ph.D. dissertation (Ly, 2004). The objective of this study is to further understand the meaning of rhythmers by analyzing approximately 100 sentences with rhythmers. The rhythmers studied consisted of those taken from Dr. Ly’s Ph.D. data and everyday dialogue. After observation, it was discovered that rhythmers add meaning to sentences and/or change the meaning of the sentences. In some cases, they only add rhythm to sentences and help the sentences flow better. They are not necessarily meaningless words. They are usually placed at the end or beginning of sentences or at the end of a clause. Nonetheless, they cannot be used randomly. Therefore, the rhythmers are a new part of speech.
Title: Gender Theory and Cultural Considerations in Understanding Hmong Homicide-Suicide. Author: Pa Thor. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 24 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Homicide-suicide is when a perpetrator kills an individual(s) and then subsequently dies by suicide. In the United States, homicide-suicide accounts for approximately 1,000-1,500 deaths per year, primarily in the context of spousal relationships. Intimate partner homicide-suicides occur as the result of an actual or impending relationship breakdown, bringing emotional strain to surviving individuals and their communities. This paper uses the theoretical framework of male sexual property to examine how traditional gender roles and marital practices are conducive to Hmong homicide-suicide. The increased frequency of Hmong homicide-suicide have challenged the Hmong’s acculturation in understanding and addressing gender-based violence. The paper discusses two case examples of Hmong intimate partner homicide-suicide (IPHS) to highlight the marital practices and gender role expectations among the Hmong culture. While Hmong have made considerable progress both collectively and individually, gender-based violence connects to and is addressed based on traditional collectivist values and beliefs. The discussion focuses on addressing homicide-suicide facilitators as they relate to the integration and advancement of Hmong in western society.
Title: Self-Construal: Perceptions of Work and School in Two Generations of Hmong Immigrants. Author: Pa Der Vang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This paper describes a research project in which 40 Hmong participants were interviewed comparing two generations of Hmong immigrants. Self-construal served as an operating framework in understanding respondent satisfaction with work and school; two very salient features in individual functioning and worldview. Self-construal is the manner in which the client views themselves in relation to others and is influenced by culture. The researcher compared perceptions of work and school among first and generation immigrants in terms of work in relation to self-construal. The study of self-construal is important for social workers and other service providers who work with immigrants and refugees as it informs cross cultural practice. Understanding culturally informed views on client satisfaction and perceptions will help social workers gain a stronger understanding of the client experience and work cross culturally with clients.
Title: Celebrating Hmong New Year Not for the New Year Celebration: A Case Study in Urban Community in Chiang Mai City, Thailand. Author: Urai Yangcheepsutjarit. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 25 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: This paper is an attempt to give a critical examination of the contemporary Hmong New Year celebrations in Thailand particularly the New Year celebration hosted by Hmong entrepreneurs from January 15-17, 2016 at the Tribal Museum, Chiang Mai. The study is based on my interviews with Hmong entrepreneurs, written materials such as newspapers, data available on websites and my observations and participation in the New Year celebrations. The chapter aims at better understanding Hmong New Year celebrations held in Chiang Mai City since the 1990s. The focus is on the shift of the Hmong New Year celebration from rural areas to urban areas and how this cultural festival has been turned or used for different purposes by various Hmong networks over time. This New Year celebration in Chiang Mai City can be thought of an example of the present trend of holding New Year celebrations elsewhere. My argument is that even though the trend in New Year celebrations has been locally reshaped according to a national context, it is still a transnational practice shared by all Hmong in different nation states. In fact, it is through the New Year celebration that the diaspora Hmong maintain their sense of belonging to the same ‘national’ identity.
Title: The Gu: An Anthropological Viewpoint on the Stigmatization of the Miao-Yao People. Author: Lan Yongshi. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 25 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Gu in Chinese “蛊”, is a kind of witchcraft. There are still some unfounded rumors that the keepers of the Gu gather hundreds of worms and perform magic arts in order to murder for gain. However, as it coincided with the southern environment, local diseases and regional culture, from the Sui and Tang dynasties on, it came to be regarded as an evil custom peculiar to some areas of southern China. With the gradual development of the South, the scope of the legendary “Gu” moved south as mainstream culture expanded into the southern regions of China; as far as Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and the Southwest, the south of the Yangtze River. Rather than being a simple matter of witchcraft, “Gu” embodies the self-centered, beggar-thy-neighbor way in which the ruling clique imagines and constructs the other. Consequently, the ruling group imagined and constructed the boundary between mainstream society and the marginalized society of “Gu”, in order to maximize national resources and power and the high integration of its own society, while excluding those societies who still practiced the “Gu”. Step by step, the ethnic group accused of having the “Gu” thus internalized and absorbed the stigma imposed onto them by mainstream society, reflecting the subtleties that exist, such as stigma, within marginalized cultures who must confront the dominant culture.
Title: Revamping Beliefs, Reforming Rituals, and Performing Hmongness? A Case Study of Temple of Hmongism. Author: Weidong Zhang. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2020. Additional Source Information: Volume 21. Pagination: 28 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Temple of Hmongism is a membership-based non-profit, new religious organization first launched in 2012 from St Paul, Minnesota, to promote Hmongism, a simplified version of traditional religion “Dab Qhuas Hmoob,” in Hmong immigrant communities around the US. This is a group of Hmong men and women who, through research and deliberation, strive to consolidate and institutionalize the indigenous Hmong beliefs taken with them from Asia, while at the same time, reform various religious rituals and practices in all areas, including Shamanism, weddings, and funerals, in the hope of making them “much simpler, less costly, and more friendly” and “full of Hmong identity and pride” in their newly adopted land. How does Temple of Hmongism revamp a system of traditional religious beliefs? What does it mean to a transnational Hmong community? Does it signify a continuous traditionalist or culturalist move, a move to search for Hmong identity, and a cultural resistance to the encircle and encroachment of traditional Hmong society by contesting and combating a dominant mainstream power from outside? In what way does Temple of Hmongism redefine Hmongness, the meaning of being Hmong? And how is it performed in religious rituals and everyday lives? Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with members of this religious organization, as well as participant observation at different religious practices, this study strives to understand this growing new religious movement in the transnational Hmong community, and see how religious faith, cultural heritage, and ethnic identity intersect and interact with each other.
Title: Commentary: Constructing Refugees in the Academic Discourse: The Hmong in America. Author: Marc Dorpema. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 33 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Produced in a historiographical spirit, this literature review traces trends in the depiction of Hmong Americans not in popular representations such as newspapers or public perception, but in the American academic discourse itself. By adopting a thematic approach, it evidences the curious chronological development of which aspects of Hmong studies were treated in which way from the 1980s until the present. To this extent, the paper argues that while the 1980s and 1990s saw a heavy emphasis on social scientific studies of Hmong family ties and clan structure which, while careful and mostly sensitive in their treatment, nevertheless on occasion construct the Hmong as either irreconcilably or undesirably different(sections I and II). It then proceeds to crystallise the significant treatment of education with respect to the Hmong, which, produced in particular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, presented powerful cases of forced assimilation through the lens of Hmong Americans themselves(section III).A brief fourth section focuses on the marginal role ascribed to economic problems encountered by the Hmong, treated as almost inevitable.Crucially, the fifth section proceeds to problematise more recent feminist critiques.The argument presented here is that their central drawback lies in the appropriation and overriding of Hmong voices for a particular project.This construction of Hmong voices, finally, is on the retreat in most recent studies which, centred on horticulture, music, rituals and medicine –to name but a few –attempt to elucidate the Hmong American experience through the lens of the protagonists themselves. This is an important step, and one which must be pursued further.
Title: Influence of Perceived Parental Involvement on Hmong Children’s Academic Performance. Authors: Zha Blong Xiong, Kyle Nickodem, Jordan St. Charles, Sun-Kyung Lee, Jacqueline Braughton, Chen Vue, and Nancy Lo. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 39 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine what predicted parental involvement based on children’s report and whether parental involvement serves as an advantage to children’s math and reading abilitiesand academic performance. This study included 380 students (179boys and 201girls) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades from five Hmong-focused charter schools in Minnesota. It was found that gender, number of siblings, and temperament were predictive of home-based parent involvement, while ethnicity, temperament, and language spoken with parents was predictive of school-based parent involvement. Subsequently, school-based parent involvement was predictive of children’s self-reported academic competence and academic performance. Overall, the model explains 8.3% and 21.7% of the variation in home-and school-based involvement, respectively, and explains 11.9% and 4.1% of the variation in reported academic competence and academic performance, respectively. The study ends with some implications and future research with Hmong students and parents.
Title: The Miao in China: A Review of Developments and Achievements over Seventy Years. Authors: Tian Shi, Xiao Hua Wu, De Bin Wang and Yan Lei. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 23 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Since 1949, the Miao nationality in China has encountered historic opportunities for development. This paper reviews four aspects of the historical achievements of the Miao nationality in China: education, youth organizations, cultural heritage, and new media and women’s empowerment. By analyzing official statistics and autoethnographic data, we demonstrate that the agency of the Miao has contributed to these historical achievements. We argue that the Miao have seized many chances to promote development. Moreover, this paper emphasizes that the Miao have diverse cultures and an imbalance in development in various areas. These diverse features demonstrate that a single criterion cannot be used to measure the complicated situation and we call for further transdisciplinary research.
Title: The impact of language brokering on Hmong college students’ parent-child relationship and academic persistence. Authors: Kikuko Omori and Kyoko Kishimoto. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 43 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: Using children as language brokers is a common practice in many migrant families. However, the particular contexts for language brokering and cultural impacts vary depending on migrant groups. Much of the literature on the impact of children’s language brokering on migrant families has focused on Latinx families and some Asian (predominantly Chinese) immigrant families.This study is the first,to our knowledge, that focuses on the impact of language brokering among Hmong refugee families in the United States. Using multi-method studies, we administered an online survey and conducted focus group interviews to understand Hmong college students’ language brokering practices in one Midwestern university and the impact this practice had on the relationships with their parents. Our results showed the diverse situations in which the students provided translations for their parent(s). Students also felt that language brokering helped them become bicultural and bilingual and that it brought them closer to their parents and Hmong culture.Student perspectives on the impact of language brokering on family relations and academic persistence are further discussed
Title: A Hmong Story Cloth Featuring Mak Phout (Lima Site 137) In Northern Laos: Rare in Content and Artistic Detail. Authors: Linda A. Gerdner, Lee Gossett and Frederic C. Benson. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 44 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong, who allied with the Royal Lao Government (RLG) and the United States during the “Secret War” in Laos, were forced to flee their homeland when the RLG fell to Communist control. They escaped to refugee camps in Thailand. During confinement the women drew upon their exceptional needlework skills and lived experiences to create a new art formusing a culturally relevant medium to embroider colorful images on cloth to tell their stories. This article features a rare story cloth depicting military operations and life at Lima Site 137 during the “Secret War. ”Because little information is available about this specific site, the article begins with background information onthe overall purpose of Lima Sites with emphasis on those that are more well known. The article advances with a photo of Hmong refugees establishing a temporary shelter in the jungle after fleeing from the Communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese soldiers.A portion of these refugees eventually found safety at Lima Site 137, providing a segue to the featured story cloth. This ethnographic textile art is supplemented with rare photos and the first-hand experiences of Retired Captain Lee Gossett and Frederic Benson. Both provided humanitarian effort to the Royal Lao Government and the Hmong people affected by the war. Extended efforts were made to talk to Hmong individuals who had experienced life at LS-137, but those we learned of were no longer available to share their stories.Select photos of daily life at other Lima Sites add breadth and depth to our understanding of life during the war as experienced by both the refugees and the United States humanitarians who served them
Title: Neo-Rural Hmong in French Guiana. Author: Marie-Odile Géraud. Source: Hmong Studies Journal. Publisher Location: St. Paul, MN. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: Volume 20, Issue 1. Pagination: 27 pages. Format: PDF File.
Abstract: The Hmong have been living in French Guiana since 1977. They are mainly market gardeners and live in two main villages, which are mostly mono-ethnic. At the end of the 1990s, a new Hmong settlement, Corossony, was founded by Hmong from mainland France, neo-rural and neo-agriculturalists, driven by a more individualistic lifestyle and aspiring to work towards ideals of freedom, a return to a more authentically Hmong existence and social success. This study examines the characteristics of these neo-residents who stand apart from other Hmong in French Guiana, living in a way they perceive to be at variance with their previous lives in France. Their situation must be analyzed less as a new relationship to the rural world and to agriculture or a reappropriation of a past way of life than as a counter-model to their integration in mainland France.
