ED 205 Presentation: The Hmong

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ED 205 Presentation The Hmong

• Mai H. Vang, Special Assistant to the Chancellor
• for Equity and Affirmative Action
• 210 Old Main
• 715.346.2002
• www.uwsp.edu/equity/EAAoffice.htm
• Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Policy
  Analysis, UW-Madison (in progress)
• B.S. and M.S.E., Elementary Education, UW-Stevens
  Point

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Topics

• Population
• History
• Language
• Clanship
• Religion
• Bridging the gap

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The Hmong
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Population (World)

• Asia
• China 6,000,000
• Vietnam 787,604
• Laos 315,000
• Thailand 124,000
• Burma 2-3,000
• Western Nations
• United States 200,000-250,000
• France 8,000
• Australia 1,800
• Canada 767
• French Guyana 500-1,000
• Germany - 70
• (Tapp, Australian National University, Canberra,
  Australia)

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Population (USA)

• Top 10 Hmong Populations by State
• 1. California 65,095
• 2. Minnesota 41,800
• 3. Wisconsin 33,791
• 4. North Carolina 7,093
• 5. Michigan 5,383
• 6. Colorado 3,000
• 7. Oregon 2,101
• 8. Georgia 1,468
• 9. Washington 1,294
• 10. Massachusetts 1,127
• (UgtS. 200 Census)

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Hmong in America Refugees of War

• A person who owing to a well-founded fear of
  being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
  nationality, membership of a particular social
  group or political opinion, is outside the
  country of his nationality and is unable or,
  owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself
  of the protection of that country or who, not
  having a nationality and being outside the
  country of his former habitual residence as a
  result of such events, is unable or, owing to
  such fear, is unwilling to return to it."
• (United Nations Convention Relating to the
  Status of Refugees web site)

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Population (WI)

• 2000 US census 33,791 Hmongs living in WI
• Hmong community counts about 50,000 Hmongs living
  in WI
• Language and culture cited as probable causes for
  undercount (Lee, 2005)
• In 2004, United Refugee Services estimated about
  2,500 to 3,700 refugees to immigrate to WI

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History

• 2000-2700 B.C.
• Mesopotamian Middle East origin
• Tab xuabzeb hav suabpuam
• 1776 Hmong entered Indochina

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Southeast Asia
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Ancient China

• Hmong occupied the Yellow River region
• Loose federation with republican features
• Left due to ethnic persecution

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Timeline (1776-present)

• 1776-1860 A.D. migrate out of China
• 1963-1975 The Vietnam Conflict and the Secret
  War
• 1975 Hmong Refugees Move to Thailand
• 1976 to Present Time Hmong refugees move to the
  U.S., France, Australia,
• French Guyana, Canada, and Germany
• December 2003 resettlement of 15,000 Hmong
  refugees
• June 2004 First Hmong refugees arrived in
  Minnesota, California, Wisconsin and other states

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Language

• Sino-Tibetan language, 1300 B.C.
• Monosyllabic and tonal
• Barrows from Ancient Chinese Mandarin Example,
  txivlaum huabxeeb
• Eight tone marks

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Written Language

• Developed in 1950, F. M. Savina (Quincy, 1997)
• Original written language was lost
• Paj Ntaub (flower cloths)
• Story cloths

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Religion

• Traditional Belief system (70)
• Animism all life is produced by a spiritual
  force or all things in nature have souls
• Ancestor worship
• Shamanism
• Other religions practiced Christianity (1/3),
  Buddhism or Islam
• (Percentages are provided by Lee and Pfeifer,
  2006)

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Family

• Delineated roles
• Patrilineality

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Demographics

• Median Age of the Hmong Population in the U.S.
  16.1 Years (35.3 years among the U.S. Pop.)
• 56 of the Hmong Population in the U.S.
• under 18 Years Old (25.7 of the U.S. Pop.)
• Average Hmong Household Size per
• Housing Unit 6.27 persons (2.59 persons among
  the U.S. Pop.)

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Clanship

• Basic social and political organization
• 12 original clans
• Branched out to 20 clans worldwide, 18 in the US
• (Thao, 1999)

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Clanship continued

• Members of given clan are viewed as relatives
  (Lee, 2005)
• Individual takes his or her father's clan name
  and remains a member for life
• Hmong women who marry and take on new identities
  in their husbands' clans
• Clans provide social support provide mutual
  assistance, and legal and mediation assistance
• (Lee and Pfeifer, 2006)

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School/Parent Communication

• Most Hmong families do not teach reading and
  writing in the Hmong language
• Certain research argue that Hmong students lean
  toward being visual learners
• Intergenerational conflicts families and elders
  vs. peer culture
• High value placed on education but there may be
  a lack of resources or personal experience to
  personally teach their children academic skills
• Communication must be established between parents
  and schools to better understand and respect the
  others potential role

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Bridging the gap

• Understand cultural practices, i.e. handshakes,
  eye contact, humble behavior, and gender roles
• Understand physical marks and religious
  accessories
• Acknowledge Diversity subgroups, i.e., religion,
  socioeconomics, new arrivals, war veterans, and
  generation
• Challenge stereotypes popular account of the
  Hmong (primitive and static)

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Celebrate Diversity!
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Resources

• Hamilton-Merritt, J. (1993). Tragic Mountains
  The Hmong, The Americans, and the Secret War for
  Laos, 1942-1992. Bloomington. Indian University
  Press.
• Lee, Stacey J. (2005). Up Against Whiteness
  Race, School, and Immigrant Youth. New York
  Teachers College Press.
• Lee, Stacy J. (2001). More than Model
  Minorities or Delinquents A Look at Hmong
  American High School Students. Harvard
  Educational Review, 71(3), 505-527.
• McClain, Leslie Xiong, Kao. (2005). Continuing
  the Promise Recruiting and Preparing Hmong
  American Educators for North Central Wisconsin.
  Hmong Studies Journal, 61-16.
• Qincy, K. (1997). Hmong History of a People.
  Eastern Washington University Press.
• Thao, Paoze. (1999). Mong Education at the
  Crossroads. Lanham University Press of America.
• Building Bridges Teaching about the Hmong in Our
  Community
• http//hmongstudies.org/BuildingBridgesGeneralPre
  sentation2006Version.pdf
• Hmong Center http//www.hmongcenter.org/
• Hmong Net http//www.hmongnet.org/hmong-au/ozintro
  .htm