Communism presented a challenge to the Hmong living traditionally in the highlands. The U. The Geneva Accords of required all foreign troops to leave Laos, but the U.
Despite enormous death tolls to the Hmong population from their CIA led engagement with communist forces, the U. The first place where many Hmong arrived in Thailand was called Nong Khai. The second camp that the Hmong went to was called Ban Vinai. Since this time period, the Hmong American population has continued to grow.
The Chinese made war with the Hmong and managed to drive them south into the regions Hupeh and Hunan. After many years, in the fourth century, the Hmong had made their own independent kingdom. The Hmong then were scattered out around China when the kingdom fell in the tenth century.
This marked the beginning of the mass exodus of Hmong people from Laos. Once in Thailand, the Hmong were housed in refugee camps while waiting for their opportunity to come to America or to other countries.
In , the last wave of Hmong refugees came to America through government-implemented refugee programs. Today, there are close to , Hmong people living in America. In the city of Milwaukee alone, there are approximately 10, Hmong residents. There are 18 clans within the Hmong community. Hmong clans exist to provide social support, legal authority and economic security for each other.
Any disputes or issues between two Hmong people or different clans will typically be settled by clan leaders. Each clan leader is responsible for handling conflict negotiation and occasional maintenance of religious rituals. However, within each clan are several sub clans whose members can trace their ancestors to a common person or share a common tradition of ancestral worship and other ritual practices.
When two new Hmong people meet for the first time, they usually exchange names and clan membership. If they belong to the same clan, they will establish the relationship within the clan. If not, they will establish their relationship through the marriage of their kin, beginning with their wives and aunts. They will address each other using kinship terms such as brother, uncle, aunt, and so on.
We had to find a way to stop them. The US had the vision to stop them from spreading into these countries. I aligned with the US because they were the most powerful country in the world at that time. Vang Pao , St. Paul, interview In my generation, education was only for the privileged and wealthy families.
We had no money so I taught myself to read and write in Lao. Where we lived, girls did not attend schools until the late s. When the war started in our country, the Americans began building small schools in nearby villages where both boys and girls could go learn. For some students, they walked as far as half a day just to get an education. Before the war all the men in our village worked hard and supported their families.
We had peace. There was no war. All of a sudden, our lives changed. The men began to disappear. They went to fight for Gen.
Vang Pao, for the Americans. Most of our husbands never returned home. My husband died in the war. We told Gen. Vang Pao that we wanted the war to end and to end all the killing. He also wanted the war to end. Youa Lee, St. Paul , interview A short time ago we rounded up fresh recruits. Thirty percent were 14 years old or less, and ten of them were only ten years old. Another 30 percent were 15 or The remaining 40 percent were 45 or over. Where were the ones in between? Ly Toupao , St.
Paul, interview By this time, Air America was keeping some , Hmong refugees alive with airdrops of rice, a situation that had gone on so long that Hmong children were said to believe that rice was not grown but simply fell from the sky. Walter J. Boyne , Plain of Jars, I hope you all believe me when I say that your welfare has always been, is now, and will always continue to be of the highest priority interest for me and my fellow USA co-workers.
I still remember that I and, perhaps, other Americans who are representatives of the United States government, have promised you, the Hmong People, that if you fight for us, if we win, things will be fine.
But if we lose, we will take care of you.
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