Hmong Americans
By Sarah Pica
Hmong people
are originally
from Southeast
Asia.
They lived in the
highlands of
Laos.
Copyright: Norodom Chanransey Heritage Foundation
For more information and to view larger image click the following link:
http://www.cleanwaterforcambodians.org/contact_us
The Hmong people who
live in the U.S. have
come to the country as
political refugees since
the Communist takeover
of Laos in 1975.
Originally at http://www2.jsonline.com/news/hmong/.
The Hmong people
were recruited by the
CIA during the
Vietnam War to
rescue American
fighter pilots who
had been shot down.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x601645
In 1961, President
Kennedy sent the
CIA into Laos to
build a secret army
of Hmong
highlanders to fight
communist forces in
Laos and Vietnam.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x601645
For larger image and more information click on the following link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/03/2008525173612374361.html
Painting by Cy Thao
Copyright: University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
For larger image and more information on the artist and his work click on the following link:
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/hmongMigration/part2.html
Hmong attacked the
Ho Chi Minh Trail,
guarded U.S. radar
facilities, and
acted as the frontline
defense of Laos.
30,000 Hmong served
with the U.S. in the 15
year “secret war”.
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/outline.weeknine.html
Communist soldiers burned Hmong villages, raped
the women, and murdered men and children. They
would dismember the corpses.
Painting by Cy Thao
Copyright: University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
For larger image and more information on the artist and his work click on the following link:
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/hmongMigration/part2.html
As the Hmong
worked with the U.S.,
they were
systematically hunted
down by the
communists in Laos.
When U.S. forces left
Southeast Asia, they
left the Hmong to
fend for themselves.
Many were
slaughtered by
communist forces.
After the U.S. pulled
its forces out of
Vietnam, thousands
of Hmong fled to
Thailand for safety,
where they lived in
U.N. sponsored
refugee camps.
Copyright: YourThailand.com, 2009
For larger image or more information about the map click on the following link:
http://www.yourthailand.com/thailand-maps/
http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-photos-l304-s2-p301971-Refugee_Camp_
Christian_School_Children.html
Hmong children in refugee camps
Originally at http://newlifeoutreach.blogspot.com/2007/08/prc-petchaboon-refugee-camp-24-26aug.html. Copyright unknown.
Hmong people
began to immigrate
to the U.S. in 1975 at
the end of the
Vietnam War.
The fall of Saigon
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/outline.weeknine.html
www.jefflindsay.com
The Hmong
population forms one
of the fastest growing
Asian-origin groups
in the U.S., increasing
by 88% over the past
decade to an
estimated 300,000
(U.S. Census, 2000).
The largest
concentrations
of Hmong
immigrants in
the U.S. are in
California,
Minnesota, and
Wisconsin.
http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Hmong.html
In the 2000 census,
170,049 people in the
U.S. claimed Hmong
ancestry.
http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1095/Hmong.html
Hmong in Wisconsin
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/hrtf/static/population_map.htm
Neng Xiong’s story
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/grief_64902___article.html/visits_laos.html
Courtesy of the Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
Neng Xiong was part
of an early wave of
Hmong tribespeople
who fled the
communists in Laos
after U.S. forces
pulled out of the
country at the end of
the Vietnam War.
Xiong’s story used courtesy of:
Survivor recalls flight from Laos
Alicia School’s Hmong interpreter uses experiences to help newcomers
June 09, 2008 12:07:00 AM
By Nancy Pasternack/Appeal-Democrat
Xiong left his village at
about age 7 with his
parents, 3 brothers, 3
sisters and various
extended family
members. They left with
little except clothes,
blankets, and 50 pounds
of rice.
"We struggled all the
way," he said of the scary
two-month journey.
http://www.masterpieces.ws/Landscapes.htm
In May 1975,
communist
insurgents began
attacking Hmong
villages. His
parents sold their
animals and
prepared to flee.
"My parents didn't
feel safe," he said.
http://www.xanga.com/voicesOFsorrow
They began the long
journey south toward
the Mekong River and
safety in Thailand.
Xiong's grandfather
was unwilling to leave
his home and his
village and the life that
was familiar to him.
The old man stayed
behind and was killed.
Mekong River
http://www.thailand.net.au/destinations/north/chiangrai.php
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/media/images/disp/Bless/Photo-18.jpg
Death became an
everyday occurrence
for the family.
A few days out, they
saw flares and heard
arms fire. A group of
Hmong ahead of
them on the trail had
been ambushed.
Seeing their bodies,
Xiong's group backtracked and hid.
They waited several
days, and next time out,
they split up into smaller
groups and only
traveled under cover of
darkness.
"We had kids and old
people and we knew the
communists were
behind us and
everywhere," Xiong said.
Many elderly travelers
gave up, sat down and
allowed themselves to be
left behind.
For larger image and more information click the following link:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/03/2008525173612374361.html
http://www.flyoverpeople.net/news_Aug06.htm
For more information and larger image click on the following link:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071019-brazilian-snails.html
http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/bamboo.html
Xiong's group ate
bamboo shoots,
snails, dried meats
and rice, when they
could prepare it.
"There wasn't
much," he said. "We
would drink any
water — sometimes
mud puddle water."
After finally reaching
the Mekong and
paying for transport
across to Thailand,
pirates took the rest of
what Xiong's group
had.
An uncle's friend from
a town nearby helped
get them on a fishing
boat, and the family
went on a scary twohour ride.
http://www.vuthasurf.com/2008/06/25/boats-on-mekong-river/
http://laobumpkin.blogspot.com/2007/10/environmental-destruction-go-go.html
Most parties attempted to
cross in makeshift boats and
rafts made of inner tubes.
"Lots and lots of people died
in that river," Xiong said.
"Hmong people are from the
mountains and can't swim."
Bands of communist troops
were known to attack at the
river.
Xiong says parents gave some
of the smallest children opium,
"so they would make no noise
during crossing."
When the family
finally arrived on the
other side, he said,
"We felt a lot safer
and happier."
They were taken to
Nong Kai, a tiny,
crowded, unsanitary
refugee camp.
http://ferenc.biz/archives/hmong-minority-in-bac-ha-northwest-vietnam/
http://www.avonhill.com/picture_vehicles_military.html
United Nations
supply rations came,
but were scarce,
Xiong said.
The sole water source
was a well that had
been dug near sewage
trenches.
Xiong's little sister,
already weakened
from the family's long
and stressful journey,
fell ill.
"They would play the drums when someone there
would die," Xiong said of the camp. "We would hear
the drums constantly — every day."
His sister died because of lack of nourishment, Xiong
said, and was buried in a blanket beside a garbage
dump, the only ground available. He later saw the
same terrain excavated. He caught glimpses of dozens
of blankets, like his sister's, being pulled up from
below.
http://cbs4.com/local/Homestead.Fatal.Accident.2.400380.html
When the brand new 400-acre Ban Vinai refugee
camp opened up nearby, Xiong's family had been
in their miserable quarters for about two years.
Conditions were better in the new camp.
 Nkaj Zeb Vaj (Hmong), Historical Migration of the Hmong, story telling cloth (pha pra vet), embroidery and
appliqué, Thailand, Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, 1988, 5'3" x 7'11," From the Permanent Collection of Montana Museum
of Art & Culture, Donated by Ms. Helen Cappadocia
In 1980, after more than
three years at Ban
Vinai, they were taken
to Bangkok by bus and
given two weeks of
physical examinations
and cultural
indoctrination to
prepare them for life in
the United States. A
Mormon church had
sponsored them.
http://homepage.mac.com/peterlaos/Laos1998/Km52%20HNY%20Photo%20Gallery.html
http://www.uoregon.edu/~hof/w07caught/ecs.html
"Just being on that bus was so
cool," said Xiong. He was about
11 or 12 years old at that time,
and had never ridden in a
vehicle.
At the airport, he saw an
escalator for the first time, and
accidentally ran into a glass
window trying to catch up to
his parents who had gone in
search of a bathroom.
"I hadn't seen too many clean
glass windows before," Xiong
said.
The idea of traveling to
America was
frightening, because
there were many myths
about Americans told
at Ban Vinai.
"We thought they were
giants who would eat
us," Xiong said.
http://www.mckeelive.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
http://www.infohostels.com/notizia.php?chiave=545
It was December
when they arrived in
San Francisco.
After a brief stay in
refugee housing, they
were sent to Spokane,
Washington— their
first American
hometown.
Xiong remembers
being scared to death
of starting school. His
classmates were all
white, his teacher was
African-American,
and he couldn’t speak
English.
His new life was
drastically different
from his former life.
http://www.edinburgschools.net/high%20school%20building/hs_building.htm
Xiong would struggle
to learn English, but
would eventually
catch up to his
classmates.
He now is an
interpreter for
Hmong students at a
school in California
and is attending
college part time to
become a probations
officer.
http://dceverest.org/srhigh/socialstudies/histday/resources.htm
www.jefflindsay.com
Neng Xiong’s story is
just one example of
the struggles of the
Hmong in their
search for a better life.
We often take our
American freedoms
and lifestyle for
granted.
With education and
understanding, we
can appreciate their
contribution to
American society.
www.jefflindsay.com
Works cited
Pfaff, Tim. Hmong in America: Journey from a Secret War. Chippewa Valley
Museum Press. Eau Claire, WI. 1995.
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionI...
http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Hmong.html
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/hrtf/static/population_map.htm
http://newlifeoutreach.blogspot.com/2007/08/prc-petchaboon-refugeecamp-24-26aug.html
http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-photos-l304-s2-p301971Refugee_Camp_Christian_School_Children.html
http://www2.jsonline.com/news/hmong/
http://dceverest.org/srhigh/socialstudies/histday/resources.htm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&addres
s=102x601645
http://www.cal.org/CO/hmong/hthai.html
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/outline.weeknine.html
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/responses/hmongMigration/part2.html
http://www.xanga.com/voicesOFsorrow