North American Hmong

By Julie Keown-Bomar, Timothy Dunnigan, and John Beierle

Meo, Miao, M'peo, H'Mong, Mong, Moob, Hmoob.

When the Hmong resettled in North America beginning in the late 1970s, they were dispersed in small communities across United States and Canada. By the late 1980s, secondary migration resulted in ethnic enclave formation in particular areas. The largest consolidations of Hmong people are found in Minnesota, California and Wisconsin, although Hmong can be found in at least 28 states in the United States. There are approximately 700 Hmong people residing in Canada.

Hmong refugee admissions to the United States were greatest during the period 1975-1990 with peak admissions occurring in the late 1970s and early 1980s and again in the late 1980s. In the year 1990 the Hmong population in the United States was approximately 110,000 and in Canada 700. As of 1999, approximately one-half of the Hmong population is composed of individuals born in the United States (Gordon, 1999).

Hmong is a multitonal language of Yao in the Miao-Yao language family but there is no agreement as to wider relationships (Heimbach, 1979). The two principal dialects in Laos are MOOB LEEG (no English translation) and HMOOB DAWB (White Hmong). Other dialects are spoken and are mutually intelligible. The MOOB LEEG are called HMOOB NTSUAB (Green or Blue Hmong) by the socially and more politically dominant HMOOB DAWB.

Most sources date the origin of the Hmong from between 2700 and 2300 B.C. in the Yellow and Yangtze River regions of China. Facing numerous conflicts with Han invaders from the North, the Hmong moved from their homeland to the mountains of Southeast Asia, settling in the nation states of Vietnam, Thailand and Laos in the early 1800s. The history of the Hmong is characterized by a succession of migrations. There are enclaves of Hmong people in China, northern Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, northern Laos, and since 1975; France, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina. Swidden agriculture was the primary adaptive strategy for Hmong living in Laos. Crops included rice, corn and vegetables for subsistence and opium for medicinal use and sale. The resettlement of Hmong people from Laos to North America is a direct result of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. As many as 40,000 Hmong men and boys fought on the side of the United States. supported Royal Lao Government against the insurgent Pathet Lao. Most served in "Special Guerrilla Units" that received massive logistical support from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency beginning in 1961. A smaller number of Hmong joined the Pathet Lao, who received aid from the North Vietnamese and the Russians. After the fall of the Royal Lao government in 1975, loyalist Hmong families were attacked as they attempted to flee into mountain recesses or cross the border into Thailand. Countless people died from starvation, exposure, drowning and disease during the wartime migrations to escape the Pathet Lao and Vietnamese forces. Many Hmong people fled Laos, crossing the Mekong River to Thailand where they lived in refugee camps until most were resettled in host countries. The highland region of northeastern Laos is the primary source area for Hmong refugees settled in the U.S. (Miyares, 1998, p.4)

Initial sites for resettlement were determined by voluntary agencies working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement and included many coastal cities like San Francisco and New York as well as medium and smaller sized cities such as Helena, Montana and Des Moines, Iowa (Miyares, 1998, p.22). The U.S. government's plan for resettlement was one of dispersal, but a wave of secondary migration resulted in Hmong ethnic enclave formation in localized areas with the large population concentrations in Fresno, California and St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1999, it appears that Minnesota has the largest concentration of Hmong in North America totaling approximately 60,000 people (Gordon, 1999).

Hmong in North America are employed in many different kinds of wage labor ranging from farming and factory work to social service work. Some Hmong refugee families still depend on welfare assistance from the federal government. Hmong are beginning to enter the legal and medical professions in significant numbers, and are increasingly being promoted to business and social service management positions.

Besides their participation in the U.S. market economy as workers and consumers, Hmong people are increasingly purchasing and operating small businesses.

Women are primarily responsible for childcare and domestic activities. Men participate in these activities to a lesser extent. It is acceptable for both men and women to work outside the home.

The Hmong practice a type of patrilineal descent group formation. Descent is traced through the male line, but women who marry in are associated with their husband's lineage because they are entitled to ancestral rights in this group. A married woman retains her father's name because she is physically a part of the clan she was born into even though she belongs to the spiritual world of her husband. Social organization is based around several gradations of kinship. The exogamous patriclan (XEEM) is the most all-encompassing level of organization. XEEM members share the same last name. There are approximately 20 patriclan names. Rules of exogamy require no individual marry another with the same last name. Lineage organization is comprised of all agnatic descendants of an historical male ancestor, often a well-known political leader who lived five or more generations ago (Dunnigan 1982, p. 128). The Hmong term for lineage is CAJ CES, meaning root branch. The next level of kinship formation is the sub-lineage or PAWG NEEG, referring to any tightly organized group (p. 128). Sub-lineages can function as corporate groups; providing economic assistance and social support. The sub-lineage may be composed of multigeneration members of the father's lineage and those who have joined the group through marriage. The group may be comprised of multiple houses, dispersed over a geographical area that serve a larger family grouping sharing household responsibilities, child care, rituals, and pooling resources (Koltyk 1998, p. 40). Those family members who live together, the "one house people" or IB TSEV NEEG form a closely-knit unit. This group may include extended family members: a man and his sons, wives, and children as well as his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law. Hmong people may also be organized to a lesser extent on the basis of friendship, mutual acquaintances, common interests, affinal relations and reciprocal advantage (Dunnigan 1982, p.130). Patrivirilocal residence in sub-lineage groups is preferred but there are exceptions. Evidence indicates segmentary kinship allows for great flexibility in responding to changing conditions, and may provide the Hmong with the means for surviving in urban America as a distinct ethnic group (p. 126).

Hmong speech illustrates the primary importance of kinship as relational terms replace proper names. This is reflected in the general pattern of interpersonal communication where teknonymy is common. Donnelly describes how this would be employed. "If Nhia Doua and his wife Mee have a child Kong Meng, usually Nhia Doua will call his wife Kong Men's mother and she will call him Kong Meng's father (1994, p. 193)." In terms of terminology, kin are grouped by a number of factors, generation, lineal or collateral relation, sex of relative and speaker, consanguine or affinal relative, and whether a linking relative is dead or alive (Lee 1986, p.10). Hmong kinship terms distinguish father's and mother's siblings. For example they distinguish mother's brother from father's brother. Males of the same generation in the same lineal group refer to each other as brothers, KWV TIJ, and all females in this same category address each other as sisters, VIV NCUS. No terms exist for parallel cousins on the male side; distinguishing terms only exist for cross cousins (p.11). Hmong kinship terminology does not fit neatly into any of the kinship taxonomic groupings.

Marriage outside the XEEM or patriclan is still customary for North American Hmong. First cousins who belong to different clans occasionally marry (i.e., cross cousins and matrilateral parallel cousins). If a serious interest develops between a man and a woman, often "go-betweens" (MEJ KOOB) and perhaps a negotiator's assistant (THIAJ COM) are secured to negotiate bridewealth and help develop an agreement acceptable to both families. Although Hmong leaders have recommended that the bridewealth be abolished, many Hmong practice this custom (Dunnigan 1982). Elopement can occur in the face of family opposition to a marriage. As in Laos, men sometimes try to force the commencement of a marriage negotiation by taking hold of a woman (ZIJ POJNAIM). With the help of kinsmen, he removes her to a secure place until the woman's parents have been informed and asked to consider his marriage proposal. Usually no repercussions result beyond the payment of a fine by the would-be-suitor. However, such actions have resulted in legal charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

Polygyny continues in private although it is viewed with condemnation from the dominant culture. The levirate practice is customary in Hmong society. If a man dies and leaves a widow, the levirate decrees marriage between this woman and her husband's younger brother. If he is married, he takes the woman as his second wife. The practice provided support for numerous war widows and fatherless children left as a result of the war and dangerous exodus from Laos. The United States does not legally recognize second wives, so they must represent themselves as independent heads of households, sisters, or some other acceptable category (Donnelly 1994, p.201). Both the junior levirate and polygyny are becoming less common as American-born Hmong mature and start families. The same applies to sororate marriage patterns wherein a widower marries a sister or patrilateral first cousin of his deceased wife in order to maintain close bonds with the NEEJTSA or affines. After bridewealth and a marriage contract have been agreed upon, parties are given in honor of the marriage. Euro-American marriage customs may be integrated especially if the couple or their families have converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, life cycle ceremonies persevere and continue to express Hmong ethnic identity after resettlement despite some stylistic changes. The meaning behind marriages continues to denote the change of care for the bride from her family of orientation to her husband's family, and the importance of alliance between the two groups (Donnelly, 1994, p. 186). Divorce is not common among the Hmong in North America, but it does seem that as a result of migration and acculturation it is becoming more frequent. Similarly, there are attitudinal changes regarding gender roles and relations.

Many Hmong people live patrivirilocally in extended family groups, which may include cognates, usually, fathers, brothers, patrilateral parallel cousins and their wives and children. Social organization and economic strategies are strongly based around an extended kinship network (Koltyk 1998, 60). Men and women commonly work outside the home. Families may also form mutual assistance associations on the basis of friendship, common interest, and reciprocal advantage (Dunnigan, 1982 p. 130). A married couple may decide to leave the husband's sublineage and reside with the wife's group (p.130).

The nearest male relative inherits material possessions (Donnelly 1994, p. 75).

Extended family members play a large role in children's lives. Children may become familiar with many houses as home, having the liberty to eat, sleep and play in multiple locations with a wide variety of kin members as caretakers (Koltyk 1998, p.40). In Laos, social maturity came early. Children were encouraged to accept responsibility in the social and economic life of the family. This continues to a much lesser extent in North America. Children often have responsibility to take care of younger siblings, for example. Although Hmong girls 14-16 years of age and boys only somewhat older do get married in the U.S., the average age of both sexes at marriage appears to be rising along with increased education levels. Before resettlement, corporal punishment and firm control over children's mobility was customary. In the 1990s, many Hmong parents feel distressed by what they perceive as a lack of control over their adolescents' lives and are disturbed by the influence of the dominant culture that emphasizes individualism over interdependence.

Gender and age play a large role in Hmong social organization. Within the sublineage, there is a male who is recognized as speaking for the entire group when a collective decision has been made. Many family matters are considered private, and are not referred to in the sublineage. The person who acts as the principal adviser and spokesperson is usually the oldest living male. Accepting family responsibility is a keynote of Hmong counseling (Donnelly 1994, p.170).

In most cities where the Hmong have settled, Hmong Community Associations or Lao Family Community, Inc. work as information clearinghouses, and refugee assistance centers, and provide cultural transition services to their refugee clientele and the wider community. These local organizations also have ties to the Hmong national leadership group. The political culture of Hmong in the U.S. functions at several different levels. Kinship is a relevant issue both for organization and consensus as patrilineage and sub-lineage membership extends from the local to the national level. Hmong Student Associations have important social and civic functions and they can be found at many state universities where there is a representative Hmong population.

Pressure from the kin group is still a motivating force for most Hmong people although how long this pattern can persist in a society which encourages individualism, is under question.

In the case of domestic conflict, partners may turn to their respective sub-lineages for support, or in their absence, patriclan descendents living nearby. Elders in kinship groups still provide guidance and advice. Once fault has been determined by older adults living in the house, the party at fault is spoken to by a group of elders at a meeting (Hall, 1990,p.31). Some people may choose outside arbitrators and utilize host country legal processes to their advantage. In communities with large Hmong populations, public organizations like schools, police departments, hospitals and social service offices often hire bilingual workers to accommodate linguistic and cultural barriers. Political organizations such as Hmong Community Association or Lao Family Community Inc. offer both technical support and conflict resolution assistance on numerous levels.

Distinguishing features of the Hmong refugee experience are the organization to self-govern and assist members in the acculturation process as well as the ability to redefine roles to fit new circumstances.

As a general rule, Hmong living in North America prefer either to COJ DAB (bear [witness to] the spirits) or to practice some form of Christianity, although some see no contradiction in practicing both. The more eclectic Hmong also participate in Buddihist rites with Lao friends and relatives. Persons who aspire to positions of political leadership particularly have to show tolerance for all faiths.

Hmong who COJ DAB have a concept of soul or multiple souls in the special language of spiritual curers called TXIV NEEG. They believe in the existence of benevolent spirits and dangerous wild spirits, and ceremonially venerate the ancestors. If health is to be maintained, individuals must attend to good and evil forces. Equilibrium, as maintained by the coexistence of life-souls within the body, is matched by sustaining balance and meaningful conversation with ancestral spirits and natural world spirits (Conquergood, 1989, p.45). Hmong TXIV NEEG speak about 12 human souls; three major souls which each associate with three shadow souls. For a person to be in equilibrium, each of these souls must be intact within the body (Bliatout 1990, p.43).

Christian missionaries were in communication with Hmong since 1600 but it wasn't until the 1940s and 1950s that Protestant missionary activity began to produce large numbers of converts (Capps 1994, p. 164). Many of those who immigrated did so with the sponsorship of Christian organizations and many Hmong joined the membership of these churches. Fervent Hmong Christians who have LAWB DAB or 'cast out the spirits' avoid social situations associated with COJ DAB practices, such as baby naming ceremonies, and anyone who eats food that has been ritually offered to the DAB is condemned. Because wives are expected to adopt the religious orientation of their husbands, Christian parents want their daughters to marry co-religionists. Several authors have noted regional trends for Hmong refugees to convert to Christianity (Desan 1983; Capps 1994; Duchon 1997) but there are no studies that attest to the rate of change across North America.

A (TUS 'classifier') TXIV NEEG enters a trance in order to communicate with spirits. In such a state, he (more rarely, she) learns what has befallen an individual's soul, or what dangers are threatening a person or group. A TXIV NEEG not only heals or protects clients, he may be called upon to guide the dead to rest, or to determine whether circumstances are propitious for certain activities (Desan 1983). Most kinship groups include several members who have such abilities. An individual is usually called by the ancestors to be TXIV NEEG, but he or she must learn from a practitioner. There are a number of other spiritual practitioners and healers associated with COJ DAB. The expression (TUS) KHAWV KOOB has been glossed as magician-sorcerer (Capps 1994), but it is better to classify such a person as a healer who specializes primarily in reducing the pain of burns, stopping excessive bleeding, or causing broken bones to set. A (TUS) SAIB YAIG can ascertain what is likely to happen in the future, a (TUS) KWS TSHUAJ is an expert on herbal cures. Christian Hmong serve their communities as ministers, priests, lay preachers and church elders.

There are many Hmong ceremonies, only a few of that are mentioned here. If harm comes to an individual, one of the most common forms of healing is HU PLIG or soul calling (Conquergood 1989). Infants are welcomed into their families by a naming ceremony. The NYUJ DAB, which requires the sacrifice of a cow, is performed to obtain help from the ancestors on behalf of an ill person. The males in a lineage group are responsible for taking the lead in ritually honoring the ancestors. New Year's celebrations conducted during November or December bring together large numbers of Hmong people in a celebration of ethnicity and to welcome in the New Year. There are many customary rituals connected with this year celebration. The ball toss (POV POB) is a courting ritual between a boy and girl. If the ball is dropped, songs can be exacted as penalties and through the singing, poetic talents and wit can be demonstrated (Donnelly 1994, p.116). There are also many ceremonies conducted at funerals including prescribed songs played by the QEEJ player or players, music, food, offerings and rites conducted by male family members.

The Hmong QEEJ, a free-reed multiple pipe musical instrument is used to communicate in words with the spirit world and the use of it for these purposes appears to be unique to the Hmong (Morrison, 1997, p.1). Each one of the seven tones in the Hmong language as well as all of the vowel sounds can be replicated on the Hmong QEEJ (p.6). Thus, for knowledgeable listeners, the QEEJ is said to speak Hmong. The Hmong are well known for their embroidery crafts; elaborate hand artwork called PAJ NTAUB. More recently, these intricate and vivid pieces have become story clothes illustrating Hmong migration, folk tales, daily life, and the war and exodus from Laos. The tradition is passed from mother to daughter.

Hmong people living in North America may use Western biomedicine, traditional Hmong healing and spiritual practices or a combination of both. The medicinal use of herbs has a long history in Hmong culture. The use of herbs (TSHUAJ NTSUAB) by practitioners who understand the curative properties of particular plants for various ailments is one type of medical specialization in Hmong culture (Hein 1997, p.6). In her ethnopharmacological analysis, Marline Spring found 92% of the medicinal plants cultivated by Hmong refugees in Minnesota to be potentially efficacious using western biomedical criteria (1989). Hundreds of herbal treatments for illnesses of organic etiology exist, and it appears are utilized by many Hmong people. "Virtually all members of the community have access to plant medicines either through kinship networks or via household cultivation of plants brought from Thailand or acquired in the United States" (p.66). Other medical practices include abdominal and herbal body massage, coin rubbing, cupping and moxabustion.

The prayers and chants at a COJ DAB funeral recount the perilous passage of the deceased's soul back to its ancestral home in China. According to Bliatout (1990), the Hmong who CAJ DAB believe that an individual has three soul entities: one that stays with the body, one that stays with the family, and another one that is eventually reincarnated. When a husband or wife dies, a TXIV SAIB is hired to speak at length, often in rhyming couplets, about the life of the deceased. He also helps to reassure the NEEJTSA, the patrikin of the wife, that death will not break the relationship between the kin groups. Family elders then call upon the ancestors to witness a blessing (FOOM) of good fortune that they are bestowing upon all of the surviving members of the deceased's family.

Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

The North American Hmong file consists of 36 English language documents representing a wide range of studies having as a common theme the cultural adaptation of an immigrant group to mainstream American (i.e., United States) society. These studies generally cover the period from 1975, with the first major emigration of Hmong from Southeast Asia to the United States, to the 1990s. Although the Hmong are scattered throughout North America in a number of ethnic communities, the major emphasis in this file is on those groups located in the western, midwestern, and eastern areas of the United States. Despite the fact that much of the traditional ethnographic data are relevant to the period when the Hmong, then known as Miao (Meo), were resident in Southeast Asia, this information does provide a basis for an understanding of the manner in which Hmong society has changed in the adjustment to life in the United States. Many customs have been dropped entirely or modified to conform to the cultural patterns of American society. As a result nearly all the documents in this file deal in varying degrees with problems of assimilation, acculturation, contact with non-Hmong populations, and the accompanying psychological distress that often results from these dynamic processes.

There is no major work in this file that furnishes a comprehensive study of all Hmong immigrants in the United States, although the work by Dunnigan et al. (1996, no. 33), does provide a brief survey of their ethnology from approximately 1975-1990s. This study concentrates on Hmong economy, education, marriage practices, community politics, and cultural adaptation to life in the United states. Other major topics which are given special attention in this file are: education (Strouse, 1985, no. 10; Weinstein-Shr, 1987, no. 12; Hvitfeldt, 1983, no. 13; Janssens, 1987, no. 17; Trueba, 1990, no. 18; and McNall, 1994, no. 37), PAJ NTAUB, the technique of embroidery applique (Peterson, 1990, no. 9; and Hafner-Hoppenworth, 1989, no. 16), the role of dress in the formulation of Hmong American cultural life (Lynch, 1995, 1996, nos. 35 and 36), women's roles and activities (Koltyk, 1998, no. 34; Lynch, 1996, no. 36), and the cultivation and use of medicinal plants in treating illness (Spring, 1989, no. 38).

For more detailed information on the content of the individual works in this file, see the abstracts in the citations preceding each document.

This culture summary and accompanying bibliography were jointly prepared by Julie Keown-Bomar and Timothy Dunnigan in December 1999. We also thank Julie Keown-Bomar and Timothy Dunnigan for making suggestion about documents to include in this file. The synopsis and indexing notes were written by John Beierle in April 2000.

• Asian Community Service -- category 747

• Asian Needlecrafters (AN) -- a needlework handicraft cooperative -- category 474

• CAJ CES (root branch) -- a lineage -- category 613

• CHO PLI -- a feast and special ceremony held one year after death (called "soul release") -- category 369

• DAB -- spirits -- category 776

• General Vang Pao, biographical information -- categories 701 and 555

• ginseng, growing of -- category 249

• Hmong Mutual Assistance Associations (MAA'S) -- categories 476, 456, 747

• Hmong National Development -- category 179

• I CHU -- the thirteen days after burial when the soul is changing into a spiritual or divine state -- category 775

• job training programs -- category 474

• KHAWV KOD -- sorcerer, magician -- categories 754, 791

• KWS TSHUAJ -- herbalists -- category 759

• Lao Family Community Inc. -- a social service organization -- category 747

• MPEG -- catch-hand marriage -- category 583

• Neighbor's Place -- category 529

• NGE (NQE) MIS -- "milk price", price of nurture; bride price -- category 583

• NTSUJ (PLIG) -- the soul -- category 774

• PAJ NTAUB (PA NDAU) -- "flowery cloth"; the name for the embroidery, applique or batik technique used by Hmong women -- categories 5311, 294

• PAWG NEEG -- a sub-lineage; the largest kinship unit capable of collective action -- category 613

• PHIJ CUAM -- the dowry -- category 583

• SAIB YAIG -- fortune tellers -- categories 791, 787

• Seattle Project -- categories 747, 874

• shelters, public -- category 747 (sometimes with 593)

• story cloths -- embroidery works depicting historical events -- categories 294, 5311

• sub-lineages -- a kinship group consisting of nuclear families -- categories 594, 613

• TIS NPE LAUG (Old Name Ceremony) -- category 553

• TLAN -- spirits -- category 776

• TSEV NEEG -- extended families -- category 596

• TXI NENG (TXU NEEB) -- the Hmong shaman -- category 756

• Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) -- categories 215, 216

• XEEM -- exogamous patri-clans -- category 614

Bliatout, Bruce. Hmong Beliefs About Health and Illness. Hmong Forum. Minneapolis, Minn: Hmong Forum Haiv Hmoob, Inc.--- Vol. 1, 1990. p. 40-45.

Capps, Lisa. Change and Continuity in the Medical Culture of the Hmong in Kansas City. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. -- Vol. 8, no.2, 1994. p.161-177.

Conquergood, Dwight. I am a Shaman: A Hmong Life Story With Ethnographic Commentary. Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis. Minn: University of Minnesota, 1989.

Desan, Christine. A Change of Faith for Hmong Refugees. Cultural Survival Quarterly -- Vol. 7, no. 2, 1983. p.45-48.

Duchon, D.A. Home is Where You Make It: Hmong Refugees in Georgia. Urban Anthropology. Vol. 26, no.1, 1997. p.71-92.

Donnelly, Nancy. Changing Lives of Refugee Hmong Women. Seattle and London: The University of Washington Press, 1994.

Dunnigan, Timothy. Segmentary Kinship in An Urban Society: The Hmong of St. Paul, Minnesota. Anthropological Quarterly. Vol. 55, No. 3, 1982. p.126-134.

Gordon, Tim. Policy Analyst, Refugee Services Section, Minnesota Department of Human Services. Personal Communication 12/02/99.

Hall, Sandra E. Hmong Kinship Roles: Insiders and Outsiders. IN Hmong Forum -- Vol. 1, 1990. p. 40-45.

Heimbach, Earnest E. White Hmong-English Dictionary. Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1979.

Hein, Jeremy. The Hmong Cultural Repertoire: Explaining Cultural Variation Within an Ethnic Group. Hmong Studies Journal. Vol.2, No.1, 1997.

Miyares, Ines M. The Hmong Refugee Experience in the United States: Crossing the River. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998.

Koltyk, Jo Ann. New Pioneers in the Heartland. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.

Lee, Gary Yia. White Hmong Kinship: Terminology and Structure. Unpublished paper 1999.

Morrison, Gayle. The Hmong QEEJ: Speaking to the Spirit World. Hmong Studies Journal. Vol. 2, no.1, 1997.

Spring, Marline E. Ethnopharmacologic Analysis of Medicinal Plants Used by Laotian Hmong Refugees in Minnesota. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Vol. 26, 1989. P.65-91.