Download or read book Portraits of Hmong Women written by Christa Xiong and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-13 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pages that follow, rich in descriptive detail, are the fruits of their labor. The women in this survey vary in age, education and level of literacy of American culture. Some were born in Laos and came here as adults. Others arrived as children or in their teens and have been educated as Americans. Portrait of Hmong Women conveys their stories. It brings to light their voices, thoughts and perspectives. In doing so, it shows how the lives of Hmong women are complicated by a multitude of social and cultural factors, including difficult choices they must regularly confront. We will learn that some of those choices were made by them; others have been made for them. Each personal narrative is thus about life in a community that is bounded by strong traditions on the one hand and informed by the need to exercise some autonomy within the spaces of those traditions on the other.
Download or read book Claiming Place written by Chia Youyee Vang and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countering the idea of Hmong women as victims, the contributors to this pathbreaking volume demonstrate how the prevailing scholarly emphasis on Hmong culture and men as the primary culprits of women’s subjugation perpetuates the perception of a Hmong premodern status and renders unintelligible women’s nuanced responses to patriarchal strategies of domination both in the United States and in Southeast Asia. Claiming Place expands knowledge about the Hmong lived reality while contributing to broader conversations on sexuality, diaspora, and agency. While these essays center on Hmong experiences, activism, and popular representations, they also underscore the complex gender dynamics between women and men and address the wider concerns of gendered status of the Hmong in historical and contemporary contexts, including deeply embedded notions around issues of masculinity. Organized to highlight themes of history, memory, war, migration, sexuality, selfhood, and belonging, this book moves beyond a critique of Hmong patriarchy to argue that Hmong women have been and continue to be active agents not only in challenging oppressive societal practices within hierarchies of power but also in creating alternative forms of belonging. Contributors: Geraldine Craig, Kansas State U; Leena N. Her, Santa Rosa Junior College; Julie Keown-Bomar, U of Wisconsin–Extension; Mai Na M. Lee, U of Minnesota; Prasit Leepreecha, Chiang Mai U; Aline Lo, Allegheny College; Kong Pha; Louisa Schein, Rutgers U; Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, U of Connecticut; Bruce Thao; Ka Vang, U of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.
Download or read book Staring Down the Tiger written by Pa Der Vang and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Captivating stories of the courage, resilience, and everyday brilliance of Hmong American women
Download or read book The Latehomecomer written by Kao Kalia Yang and published by Coffee House Press. This book was released on 2010-12-15 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America. But lacking a written language of their own, the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others. Driven to tell her family’s story after her grandmother’s death, The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang’s tribute to the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard. Beginning in the 1970s, as the Hmong were being massacred for their collaboration with the United States during the Vietnam War, Yang recounts the harrowing story of her family’s captivity, the daring rescue undertaken by her father and uncles, and their narrow escape into Thailand where Yang was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. When she was six years old, Yang’s family immigrated to America, and she evocatively captures the challenges of adapting to a new place and a new language. Through her words, the dreams, wisdom, and traditions passed down from her grandmother and shared by an entire community have finally found a voice. Together with her sister, Kao Kalia Yang is the founder of a company dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and business services. A graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University, Yang has recently screened The Place Where We Were Born, a film documenting the experiences of Hmong American refugees. Visit her website at www.kaokaliayang.com.
Download or read book Martha L Zimmerman Paj Ntaub Collection written by Brian V. Xiong and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-25 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hmong Archives was founded as a nonprofit on 10 February 1999 to collect, preserve, research and interpret materials by and about Hmong.
Download or read book A Map Into the World written by Kao Kalia Yang and published by Carolrhoda Books (R). This book was released on 2019 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A heartfelt story of a young girl seeking beauty and connection in a busy world.
Download or read book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down written by Anne Fadiman and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, this brilliantly reported and beautifully crafted book explores the clash between a medical center in California and a Laotian refugee family over their care of a child.
Download or read book The Song Poet written by Kao Kalia Yang and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of The Latehomecomer, a powerful memoir of her father, a Hmong song poet who sacrificed his gift for his children's future in America In the Hmong tradition, the song poet recounts the story of his people, their history and tragedies, joys and losses; extemporizing or drawing on folk tales, he keeps the past alive, invokes the spirits and the homeland, and records courtships, births, weddings, and wishes. Following her award-winning book The Latehomecomer, Kao Kalia Yang now retells the life of her father Bee Yang, the song poet, a Hmong refugee in Minnesota, driven from the mountains of Laos by American's Secret War. Bee lost his father as a young boy and keenly felt his orphanhood. He would wander from one neighbor to the next, collecting the things they said to each other, whispering the words to himself at night until, one day, a song was born. Bee sings the life of his people through the war-torn jungle and a Thai refugee camp. But the songs fall away in the cold, bitter world of a Minneapolis housing project and on the factory floor until, with the death of Bee's mother, the songs leave him for good. But before they do, Bee, with his poetry, has polished a life of poverty for his children, burnished their grim reality so that they might shine. Written with the exquisite beauty for which Kao Kalia Yang is renowned, The Song Poet is a love story -- of a daughter for her father, a father for his children, a people for their land, their traditions, and all that they have lost.
Download or read book Hmong Story Cloths written by Linda Gerdner and published by Schiffer Craft. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hmong story cloths provide a visual documentation of the historical and cultural legacy of the Hmong people from the country of Laos. The Hmong first began making the story cloths during their time in refugee camps, and featured here are 48 vibrant story cloths that provide a comprehensive look at their lives and culture. The creation of a story cloth begins with the selection of fabric and images outlined onto the fabric. Long satin stitches of multi-colored threads fill in the image, while details are applied with intricate satin stitches and borders pieced together and hand-stitched. Topics include history, traditional life in Laos, Hmong New Year, folk tales, and neighboring people. The quality and diversity of content of the story cloths build upon one another to provide a holistic understanding of the Hmong culture and history. Augmented with personal stories and artifacts, this book is perfect for history buffs and textile artisans alike.
Download or read book Tangled Threads written by Pegi Deitz Shea and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2003-09-22 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the Hmong people living in overcrowded refugee camps in Thailand, America is a dream: the land of peace and plenty. In 1995, ten years after their arrival at the camp, thirteen-year-old Mai Yang and her grandmother are about to experience that dream. In America, they will be reunited with their only remaining relatives, Mai’s uncle and his family. They will discover the privileges of their new life: medical care, abundant food, and an apartment all their own. But Mai will also feel the pressures of life as a teenager. Her cousins, now known as Heather and Lisa, try to help Mai look less like a refugee, but following them means disobeying Grandma and Uncle. From showers and smoke alarms to shopping, dating, and her family’s new religion, Mai finds life in America complicated and confusing. Ultimately, she will have to reconcile the old ways with the new, and decide for herself the kind of woman she wants to be. This archetypal immigrant story introduces readers to the fascinating Hmong culture and offers a unique outsider’s perspective on our own.
Download or read book Calling in the Soul written by Patricia V. Symonds and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Calling in the Soul” (Hu Plig) is the chant the Hmong use to guide the soul of a newborn baby into its body on the third day after birth. Based on extensive original research conducted in the late 1980s in a village in northern Thailand, this ethnographic study examines Hmong cosmological beliefs about the cycle of life as expressed in practices surrounding birth, marriage, and death and considers the gender relationships evident in these practices. The Hmong (or Miao, as they are called in China, and Meo, in Thailand) have lived on the fringes of powerful Southeast Asian states for centuries. Their social framework is distinctly patrilineal, granting little direct power to women. Yet within the limits of that structure, Hmong women wield considerable influence in the spiritually critical realms of birth and death. Calling in the Soul will be of interest to sociocultural anthropologists, medical anthropologists, Southeast Asianists, and gender specialists. Replaces ISBN 9780295800424
Download or read book Hmong Art written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1975 communist takeover of Laos, over 60,000 Hmong refugees have immigrated to the United States from Southeast Asia, bringing with them a rich visual and performing arts heritage. HMONG ART: TRADITION AND CHANGE is the first exhibition and publication to document extensively the textiles, jewelry, musical instruments, and other artifacts currently produced by Hmong folk artists throughout this country.
Download or read book Hmong and American written by Vincent K. Her and published by Minnesota Historical Society Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farmers in Laos, U.S. allies during the Vietnam War, refugees in Thailand, citizens of the Western world, the stories of the Hmong who now live in America have been told in detail through books and articles and oral histories over the past several decades. Like any immigrant group, members of the first generation may yearn for the past as they watch their children and grandchildren find their way in the dominant culture of their new home. For Hmong people born and educated in the United States, a definition of self often includes traditional practices and tight-knit family groups but also a distinctly Americanized point of view. How do Hmong Americans negotiate the expectations of these two very different cultures? This book contains a series of essays featuring a range of writing styles, leading scholars, educators, artists, and community activists who explore themes of history, culture, gender, class, family, and sexual orientation, weaving their own stories into depictions of a Hmong American community where people continue to develop complex identities that are collectively shared but deeply personal as they help to redefine the multicultural America of today.
Download or read book A History of the Hmong written by Thomas S. Vang and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2008 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first completely up-to-date Hmong history book ever written by a member of the Hmong people. It describes the earliest civilizations of the Hmong and Miao in China, and why some of the Hmong migrated into Southeast Asia in the early 19th century, particularly to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand; and how the Hmong of Laos were involved with the Lao civil war, especially the secret war from 1962 to 1975 that caused almost a hundred thousand Hmong to flee to Thailand and Western countries as political refugees after the Communists takeover. This book includes the forcible repatriation of the Lao-Hmong asylum seekers at Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand back to Laos in late 2009 and the arrest and discharge of former General Vang Pao by the U.S. authorities. "[It] is full of fascinating materials [and] a wonderful book. Congratulations," commented by Dr Nicholas C. T. Tapp, Senior Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University.
Download or read book Hmong and American written by Sue Murphy Mote and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-02-18 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hmong were driven out of Laos by the turmoil of the Vietnam War and settled in America in such large numbers that they are now the second largest Southeast Asian population in the United States. Twelve Hmong immigrants, including a female shaman, an ex-military officer, a reformed gang member, a doctor, and a woman who was snatched from her mountain village at the age of eight, deposited in Laos's French culture and finally returned to Laos years later, tell their stories of struggling with American life while preserving the values of their own ancient culture. The author also considers the 5,000 years of Hmong history and its lasting influence.
Download or read book Soul Calling written by Joel Pickford and published by Heyday Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photographic documentary of the Hmong people, both in the United States and overseas. Divided into two parts, the author explores the cultures and communities of Hmong immigrants and Hmong Americans living in Fresno, California as well as the dramatically different way of life of Hmong villagers in Laos.
Download or read book Bamboo Among the Oaks written by Mai Neng Moua and published by Minnesota Historical Society Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of an estimated twelve million ethnic Hmong in the world, more than 160,000 live in the United States today, most of them refugees of the Vietnam War and the civil war in Laos. Their numbers make them one of the largest recent immigrant groups in our nation. Today, significant Hmong populations can be found in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan, and Colorado, and St. Paul boasts the largest concentration of Hmong residents of any city in the world. In this groundbreaking anthology, first-and second-generation Hmong Americans--the first to write creatively in English--share their perspectives on being Hmong in America. In stories, poetry, essays, and drama, these writers address the common challenges of immigrants adapting to a new homeland: preserving ethnic identity and traditions, assimilating to and battling with the dominant culture, negotiating generational conflicts exacerbated by the clash of cultures, and developing new identities in multiracial America. Many pieces examine Hmong history and culture and the authors' experiences as Americans. Others comment on issues significant to the community: the role of women in a traditionally patriarchal culture, the effects of violence and abuse, the stories of Hmong military action in Laos during the Vietnam War. These writers don't pretend to provide a single story of the Hmong; instead, a multitude of voices emerge, some wrapped up in the past, others looking toward the future, where the notion of "Hmong American" continues to evolve. In her introduction, editor Mai Neng Moua describes her bewilderment when she realized that anthologies of Asian American literature rarely contained even one selection by a Hmong American. In 1994, she launched a Hmong literary journal, Paj Ntaub Voice, and in the first issue asked her readers "Where are the Hmong American voices?" Now this collection--containing selections from the journal as well as new submissions--offers a chorus of voices from a vibrant and creative community of Hmong American writers from across the United States.
