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Hmong

The Hmong are an ethnic group of approximately 4–5 million people indigenous to the mountainous highlands of southern China, northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, known for their clan-based patrilineal social structure, intricate textile arts, and migratory history driven by conflicts with dominant lowland populations.^[1]^[2] They speak tonal languages from the Hmong-Mien family, which features complex consonant clusters and no native writing system until modern adaptations like the Romanized Popular Alphabet.^[3] Traditional Hmong cosmology centers on animism, positing spirits in natural elements and ancestors, with shamanic rituals (txiv neeb) serving as primary mediators between the human and spiritual realms to address illness, misfortune, and life transitions.^[4]^[5] Over millennia, Hmong communities endured cycles of displacement from China southward, including 19th-century wars against Qing forces that pushed groups into Southeast Asia's highlands, where they maintained seminomadic swidden agriculture and resistance to assimilation.^[2]^[4] The group's defining 20th-century ordeal unfolded in Laos during the "Secret War" (1960–1975), a covert U.S.-backed campaign parallel to the Vietnam War; CIA-recruited Hmong guerrillas under General Vang Pao numbered up to 40,000 fighters, who interdicted North Vietnamese supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, rescued downed pilots, and inflicted delays on communist advances at the cost of an estimated 100,000 civilian and combatant deaths—roughly one-third of the Laotian Hmong population.^[6]^[7] Following the Pathet Lao victory in 1975, reprisal killings and forced collectivization prompted mass exodus; over 150,000 Hmong refugees resettled in Thailand camps before third-country dispersion, establishing the largest diaspora in the United States (about 360,000 as of 2023, concentrated in Minnesota, California, and Wisconsin), alongside communities in France, Australia, and Canada.^[8]^[2] In resettlement, Hmong have preserved cultural practices amid adaptation challenges, including intergenerational language loss and socioeconomic hurdles, while contributing to host societies through entrepreneurship and military service.^[8]^[4]

Overview

Etymology and self-identification

The Hmong people use Hmong (pronounced roughly as /hmuŋ/ or Hmoob in their language) as their primary autonym, a self-designation that distinguishes them from external labels. This term, transcribed into English from various Hmong dialects, functions as both a singular and plural noun referring to the ethnic group collectively.^[9] While the precise etymology remains uncertain, Hmong oral traditions and diaspora interpretations often render it as connoting "free people" or "complete human beings," emphasizing inherent dignity and independence rather than subjugation.^[10] In contrast, the Chinese exonym Miao—applied broadly to Hmong and related groups—is rejected by most Hmong outside China due to its historical pejorative implications, such as "wild grass," "barbarian," or "sprout," which evoked inferiority and facilitated discriminatory policies.^[11] ^[12] Hmong communities in Southeast Asia and the diaspora adopted Hmong more assertively from the 19th century onward, particularly during migrations fleeing Qing Dynasty assimilation campaigns, to affirm cultural autonomy and reject hierarchical ethnic categorizations imposed by Han Chinese authorities.^[13] This nomenclature choice underscores a pattern of self-assertion amid centuries of marginalization, prioritizing endogenous identity over state-sanctioned terms. Internal subgroupings, such as White Hmong (Hmoob Dawb or Hmong Daw) and Green Hmong (Hmoob Ntsuab or Mong Njua), derive from observable differences in traditional women's attire—white skirts and embroidery for the former, green or blue skirts for the latter—along with minor dialectal variations in phonology and vocabulary.^[14] ^[15] These labels are descriptive and non-hierarchical, reflecting practical distinctions in material culture and speech rather than social superiority, and they maintain mutual intelligibility across groups while preserving localized identities.^[16]

Geographic origins and subgroups

The Hmong people trace their geographic origins to the highlands of central-southern China, with oral traditions and archaeological evidence indicating early habitation in the Yellow River basin prior to Han Chinese expansion.^[17] This region, characterized by rugged terrain and river valleys, facilitated the development of highland-adapted subsistence practices among proto-Hmongic groups, though genetic studies of Hmong-Mien speakers suggest deeper ancestral ties to southern Chinese populations with limited northward migration evidence.^[18] Subgroups emerged through centuries of isolation in dispersed mountainous enclaves, fostering linguistic and cultural divergences without centralized political structures; primary distinctions include the Hmong Daw (White Hmong), identifiable by lighter traditional skirts and specific dialect features, and the Mong Njua (Green or Blue Hmong), marked by darker indigo-dyed attire and phonetic variations in vowels and consonants.^[16] These subgroups, along with others like Black Hmong and Flower Hmong, remain mutually intelligible in language but exhibit subgroup-specific embroidery patterns and vocabulary tied to local ecologies.^[19] By the late 18th and 19th centuries, successive waves of migration driven by conflicts with expanding Han settlements propelled Hmong communities southward into the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia, including present-day Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma).^[2] Settlement patterns favored steep, fog-shrouded mountain slopes above 1,000 meters, where Hmong practiced slash-and-burn (swidden) agriculture, rotating maize, opium poppy, and rice cultivation on cleared, ash-fertilized plots to exploit thin, nutrient-poor soils unsuitable for lowland wet-rice systems.^[20] This adaptive strategy, reliant on clan-coordinated labor for hillside terracing and fallowing, reinforced territorial fragmentation and subgroup autonomy, as clans—patrilineal kinship units numbering around 18 major lineages—served as the primary social and economic organizers rather than territorial states.^[4] Continental Hmong populations, comprising those remaining in Asian highlands, differ from diaspora communities in their sustained reliance on these agro-pastoral systems amid ongoing land pressures, with no sovereign nation-state unifying the group; instead, clan exogamy and networked alliances maintain cohesion across subgroups and borders.^[2] Dialectal clusters correlate loosely with geography—Hmong Daw predominant in Laos and Thailand, Mong Njua in Vietnam's northern provinces—reflecting isolation-driven evolution rather than deliberate separation.^[16]

History

Ancient origins and early migrations from China

Genetic and archaeological evidence indicates that the ancestors of the Hmong people, part of the Hmong-Mien linguistic family, originated in the middle Yangtze River basin of southern China, linked to Neolithic rice-farming cultures such as Daxi (circa 5300–6400 years before present) and Qujialing (circa 4600–5000 years before present).^[21] Mitochondrial DNA analyses show predominant southern East Asian haplogroups (e.g., B at 30.2%, R9 at 19.8%, M7 at 9.7%, D at 13.4%), with specific Hmong-Mien lineage ages—such as 6000 ± 2000 years before present for B5a and 3560 ± 2050 years before present for a unique motif—aligning with these prehistoric cultures and suggesting initial differentiation around 5800 years before present.^[22] Proto-Hmong-Mien divergence from related groups occurred approximately 8200 years before present, with the family's homeland centered in regions like the Yungui Plateau.^[21] Early Chinese records, including pre-Qin texts, reference groups associated with Hmong ancestors, such as the San Miao, indicating their presence in central and northern China prior to widespread Han expansion, though direct ethnic continuity remains inferred from linguistic and genetic correlations rather than unambiguous documentation.^[22] These populations maintained distinct maternal lineages amid interactions with northern East Asian groups, evidencing initial southward origins followed by limited northward movements before subsequent retreats.^[23] Han Chinese demographic expansion and imperial consolidation exerted sustained pressure through resource competition and military campaigns, driving repeated southward displacements of Hmong groups over centuries, as seen in genetic signatures of admixture with indigenous southern populations.^[21] This culminated in accelerated migrations during the late 18th and 19th centuries, triggered by conflicts including the Miao Rebellion (1795–1806) against Qing authorities, leading to mass exodus into the mountainous frontiers of northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand by the 1860s, where Hmong clans preserved patrilineal structures despite assimilation attempts.^[24] Population estimates from this era document displacements involving tens of thousands, reflecting causal dynamics of persecution and arable land scarcity rather than voluntary relocation.^[24]

Settlement in Southeast Asia

The Hmong began settling in the highlands of northern Laos and Vietnam during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, migrating southward from China amid conflicts with Han authorities and resource pressures that displaced over one million individuals.^[25]^[26] These migrants, numbering in the tens of thousands by the 1820s, occupied remote, steep terrains such as the Xieng Khouang plateau in Laos—areas shunned by lowland ethnic majorities like the Lao and Kinh due to their elevation, poor soil for wet-rice farming, and isolation from river valleys.^[24]^[27] This strategic choice preserved Hmong autonomy, as highland mobility allowed evasion of centralized lowland kingdoms while enabling clan-based self-governance through patrilineal alliances that coordinated defense and resource sharing.^[28] Economically, Hmong communities adapted via swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture, rotating fields on slopes to grow staple crops like upland rice and maize, supplemented by opium poppy cultivation introduced as a hardy cash crop suited to thin soils and traded with lowlanders for necessities.^[29]^[30] Opium yields, averaging 10-20 kilograms per hectare in highland plots, provided economic resilience against subsistence shortfalls, fostering trade networks that reinforced clan interdependencies without reliance on valley taxation systems.^[31] These practices sustained populations estimated at 100,000-200,000 Hmong in Laos by the mid-19th century, with villages typically comprising 20-50 households clustered around headmen from dominant clans like Ly or Vang.^[2] As French colonial expansion reached Indochina in the 1890s, Hmong highland autonomy clashed with imposition of direct taxation and corvée labor, prompting organized resistance through clan coalitions.^[26] In 1896, Hmong leaders in Xieng Khouang rallied against excessive levies, forming proto-alliances that prefigured later military structures by uniting subclans under charismatic figures for guerrilla defense.^[28] This escalated in the 1918-1921 revolt led by Vue Pa Chay, involving thousands across northern Laos who rejected tax farms on opium and livestock, employing hit-and-run tactics from fortified plateau villages until French suppression killed over 15,000 rebels.^[26] Such uprisings underscored Hmong reliance on geographic isolation and clan solidarity to negotiate limited autonomy amid encroaching colonial extraction, distinct from lowland assimilation.^[32]

Role in the Laotian Civil War and U.S. Secret War (1960–1975)

In response to escalating communist threats from the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) during the Laotian Civil War, the CIA initiated recruitment of Hmong irregular forces in late 1959 under officer Bill Lair, formalizing support for General Vang Pao—a Hmong commander of the Royal Lao Army's 10th Infantry Battalion—in early 1960 to bolster defenses on the Plain of Jars (PDJ).^[33] By January 1961, authorization was granted to arm and train an initial 1,000 Hmong guerrillas, expanding rapidly to equip approximately 9,000 fighters that year as part of Operation Momentum, a covert program to create mobile strike forces against invading forces.^[33] These units, integrated into the CIA-sponsored Special Guerrilla Units (SGU), operated from bases like Long Tieng and focused on disrupting NVA supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail extension into Laos.^[34] Hmong force strength grew to around 20,000 armed personnel by 1963 and peaked at approximately 35,000 by 1969, comprising the majority of U.S.-backed ground combatants in northern Laos.^[34] Their primary tactical roles included ambushing NVA truck convoys, mining roads, and destroying supply depots to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which channeled materiel to Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam; they also rescued downed U.S. pilots in hazardous northeastern terrain and defended radar sites like Lima Site 85 to enable U.S. bombing runs into North Vietnam.^[33]^[34] U.S. logistical support via Air America delivered over 46 million pounds of rice in 1970 alone, alongside helicopter insertions, STOL aircraft transports, and close air support strikes coordinated with Hmong ground operations, supplemented by Thai mercenary contingents.^[33] Hmong guerrillas inflicted significant delays on Pathet Lao and NVA offensives through hit-and-run tactics and major counterattacks, such as Operation About Face in 1969, which temporarily recaptured the PDJ and forced communist withdrawals despite numerical inferiority.^[33] These efforts prolonged Royal Lao Government control over key highlands, tying down NVA divisions that might otherwise have reinforced Vietnam fronts and contributing causally to sustained U.S. containment objectives in Indochina.^[34] The forces endured attrition rates of 30–40 percent, with over 18,000 combatants killed by 1968 and total military casualties estimated at 30,000–40,000 by 1975, reflecting the intensity of engagements against superior NVA firepower.^[34]^[24]

Communist persecution and mass exodus post-1975

Following the Pathet Lao's assumption of power in December 1975, Hmong populations allied with U.S. forces during the Laotian Civil War became primary targets of reprisals, including aerial bombings of villages and reported use of poison chemicals to flush out resistors.^[35] These operations, conducted by Laotian and Vietnamese communist forces, displaced over 300,000 Hmong within the first decade, driving many into remote jungles or toward the Thai border.^[36] The regime's stated intent included eradicating Hmong influence, with public vows to eliminate them "to the last root."^[37] Tens of thousands of captured Hmong soldiers and civilians were detained in re-education camps, subjected to forced labor, political indoctrination, and summary executions, resulting in significant mortality from starvation, disease, and direct violence.^[38] ^[37] High-ranking Hmong officials and royalist figures perished in these facilities, while survivors faced ongoing surveillance and relocation to lowland areas incompatible with traditional highland agriculture.^[39] By the late 1990s, the Lao government had closed most camps and released over 28,000 ethnic minority prisoners, including Hmong, though reports persisted of arbitrary detentions.^[40] The persecution triggered waves of flight to Thai border camps, such as Ban Vinai, which peaked at around 45,000 Hmong residents by the early 1980s before closing in 1992.^[41] Over 100,000 Hmong reached these camps by 1980, enduring harsh conditions amid fears of forced repatriation.^[42] From there, U.S. refugee programs facilitated the resettlement of more than 150,000 Hmong to the United States by 2000, prioritizing families of former collaborators.^[43] Remnants of Hmong resistance, including armed groups, continued low-level insurgency into the 2000s, with clashes such as the 2003 bus ambushes that killed 25 civilians.^[36] Forced returns of Hmong from Thai camps, as in the 2009 deportation of over 4,500, often resulted in renewed persecution, including village raids and killings, as in the April 2006 attack that claimed 26 lives (including 17 children).^[44] These outcomes highlighted the regime's unsuccessful efforts to assimilate Hmong through coercive relocation and suppression of clan structures, perpetuating ethnic tensions.^[36]

Language

Classification and linguistic features

The Hmong languages constitute the Hmongic (or Miao) branch of the Hmong–Mien language family, recognized as a primary isolate unrelated to neighboring Sino-Tibetan or Austroasiatic phyla through comparative reconstruction methods that reveal distinct proto-forms and phonological innovations.^[45]^[21] Linguistic evidence, including shared agricultural vocabulary and reconstructed lexicon, situates the proto-Hmong–Mien homeland in the Neolithic middle Yangtze River basin, from which diversification occurred amid migrations southward around 500 BCE.^[18]^[46] Structurally isolating and analytic, Hmong employs monosyllabic roots with rigid syllable templates—typically initial consonant clusters (up to three, including prenasalized stops), a medial glide or vowel nucleus, and optional final consonants—lacking grammatical gender, number marking, or tense inflections, where word order and particles convey syntax.^[47]^[48] Lexical meaning relies heavily on suprasegmental tone, with dialects featuring 7–8 phonemic tones (e.g., White Hmong distinguishes high, mid-rising, low-falling, mid, low, high-falling, low-rising, and checked tones, the latter often with glottal constriction), though some Hmongic varieties exhibit up to 12 tones via mergers or splits in contour and phonation registers.^[49]^[50] Dialect continua within Hmongic, such as White Hmong (Hmong Daw) and Green Hmong (Mong Njua or Hmoob Leeg), display asymmetric mutual intelligibility: speakers often comprehend White Hmong more readily due to its broader documentation, but phonological divergences—like Green Hmong's breathier low tones and fewer rising contours—impede bidirectional understanding without exposure.^[51] Prior to the 20th century, Hmong remained exclusively oral, with no indigenous script; historical and mythological knowledge was preserved through recited epics like Dab Pog (flood narratives) and genealogical chants spanning thousands of verses, memorized across generations.^[52] The Pollard script, an alphabetic-syllabic system devised in 1905 by British missionary Samuel Pollard for the related A-Hmao dialect, was later adapted for Hmong varieties in the 1950s, marking the onset of widespread literacy efforts despite initial resistance to written forms.^[53]

Dialects, scripts, and literacy

The Hmong language comprises several dialects, the most prominent being Hmong Daw (also termed White Hmong or Hmoob Dawb) and Mong Leng (Green Mong or Moob Leeg), which together account for the speech of the majority of Hmong speakers, especially in diaspora populations.^[54] These varieties differ in phonology—such as initial consonant distinctions (e.g., Hmong Daw d corresponding to Mong Leng dl)—and lexical items, yet remain mutually intelligible enough for basic communication among speakers.^[55] The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) serves as the dominant orthography, developed from 1951 to 1953 in Laos by American linguists G. Linwood Barney and William A. Smalley alongside French missionary Yves Bertrais, with input from Hmong collaborators to adapt Latin letters for tonal contours and aspirated sounds.^[56] This system uses diacritics (e.g., b for high tone, s for low) and doubled letters for prenasalization, facilitating transcription of dialects like Hmong Daw and Mong Leng while promoting accessibility through familiar Roman characters.^[57] Alternative scripts have proliferated due to Hmong society's clan-based decentralization, which favors autonomous adaptations over unified standards; notable among these is Pahawh Hmong, a semi-syllabic system invented in 1959 by Shong Lue Yang, an illiterate Hmong man who devised it independently to encode syllables in reverse order, readable left-to-right.^[58] Such inventions, often tied to individual or subgroup initiatives, highlight practical responses to orthographic needs amid historical marginalization from state-sponsored literacy.^[59] Hmong communities traditionally prioritized oral transmission of knowledge, yielding minimal literacy before mid-20th-century missionary and wartime exposures to writing.^[4] Post-1975 resettlement in nations like the United States spurred literacy gains through RPA-based bilingual curricula and refugee education initiatives, enabling higher rates of reading and writing proficiency among younger generations despite persistent generational gaps.^[60]

Traditional culture

Hmong society is organized around patrilineal clans, which serve as the primary units of kinship, social identity, and mutual obligation, with descent traced exclusively through the male line.^[61] There are 18 major clans, each bearing a surname such as Chang (Tsaab), Chue (Tswb), Lee (Lis), Vang (Vaaj), or Yang (Yaaj), inherited patrilineally from a common male ancestor.^[62] Clan membership is determined by birth to a male clan member or, less commonly, adoption into the patriline, and it dictates core social rules including strict exogamy, prohibiting marriage within the same clan to prevent incest and maintain genetic diversity.^[63] Inheritance of property and lineage authority follows patrilineal principles, passing from father to sons, while women retain their birth clan name upon marriage but incorporate into the husband's household under patrilocal residence norms.^[64] Within clans, authority hierarchies emphasize seniority and male leadership, with the eldest living male often serving as lineage head, responsible for guiding family decisions, ritual duties, and resource allocation.^[4] Clan elders collectively enforce customary law, adjudicating disputes such as property conflicts or breaches of kinship obligations through consensus-based processes rooted in oral traditions and ancestral precedents, rather than formal state mechanisms.^[65] This structure reinforces male dominance in public and familial decision-making, where men hold primary roles in leadership and external representation, reflecting the adaptive demands of historically nomadic and agrarian lifestyles that prioritized male labor for defense and migration.^[61] The clan system's resilience is evident in its preservation across migrations from ancient China through Southeast Asia, where clan loyalties provided cohesion amid displacement, enabling collective survival strategies like mutual aid during famines or conflicts without reliance on centralized governance.^[66] Empirical patterns from ethnographic studies show that clan endogamy taboos and elder mediation have endured, minimizing internal fragmentation even as subgroups formed, with violations historically met by social sanctions like ostracism to uphold lineage integrity.^[63]

Customs, marriage, and gender roles

Traditional Hmong marriage practices center on clan exogamy, prohibiting unions within the same patrilineal clan to maintain social alliances and avoid incest taboos. Marriages are typically arranged through family negotiations, often involving a symbolic or negotiated "bride capture" where the groom's kin seize the bride—frequently with prior consent or simulation—and present a bride price of silver, livestock, or money to her family, compensating for the loss of her labor and ensuring clan reciprocity.^[4]^[67] This custom, observed historically in Laos and Vietnam, reflects pragmatic adaptations to high-mortality environments, fostering rapid family formation amid frequent migrations and conflicts. However, it has documented frictions, including cases of non-consensual captures leading to family disputes or elopements, with bride prices sometimes escalating to thousands of dollars equivalent in traditional goods.^[68]^[69] Early marriage is prevalent, with girls commonly wed between ages 12 and 18, and boys slightly older, driven by economic pressures and cultural emphasis on fertility to sustain clan lineages in agrarian, subsistence-based societies.^[68]^[70] Polygyny occurs historically among affluent or elite clan leaders, allowing multiple wives to amplify labor, progeny, and political ties, though monogamy predominates post-resettlement due to legal and economic constraints.^[71] Gender roles exhibit a clear division of labor suited to highland farming and nomadic resilience: men handle swidden agriculture, plowing, hunting, animal husbandry, warfare, and external negotiations, while women manage childcare, weaving intricate textiles for clothing and trade, foraging, and household maintenance.^[4]^[72] This delineation supports empirical fertility rates of 7–9.5 children per woman in pre-diaspora communities, enabling population replenishment amid disease, warfare, and famine, as larger families provided essential labor for slash-and-burn cultivation and defense.^[73]^[74] Hmong New Year festivals, culminating in events like Ntoo Xeeb gatherings, facilitate courtship through communal games, dances, and ball-tossing rituals where unmarried youth signal interest, rooted in seasonal abundance and the need for exogamous pairings to strengthen inter-clan bonds in isolated villages.^[75]^[76] These practices underscore a functional emphasis on reproduction and alliance-building over individual romance, with parental oversight ensuring compatibility in socioeconomic status and clan relations.^[4]

Arts, textiles, and oral traditions

Hmong textiles, known as paj ntaub or "flower cloth," feature intricate appliqué and embroidery techniques employing geometric patterns that encode cultural narratives, environmental motifs, and symbolic meanings derived from nature and daily life.^[77]^[78] These designs, such as interlocking diamonds representing ancestral homes or snail-shell motifs symbolizing familial alliances, serve primarily as vehicles for transmitting practical knowledge and identity across generations rather than standalone aesthetic objects.^[79] Hmong women historically crafted these cloths for clothing, baby carriers, and household items, with skills passed matrilineally through hands-on apprenticeship, emphasizing precision in stitching over artistic innovation.^[80] In the 20th century, amid displacement from wars and migrations, paj ntaub evolved into "story cloths" that narrate specific historical events, including jungle escapes, conflicts with authorities, and refugee journeys, using layered geometric scenes to depict sequences without reliance on figurative imagery.^[80] This adaptation maintained the tradition's functional role in documenting collective memory, as the cloths were sewn by refugees in Thai camps starting in the late 1970s to record unlettered histories for posterity.^[79] In diaspora communities, these textiles retain economic utility, with women selling embroidered goods through informal markets and cross-border networks, as observed in Hmong-Vietnamese trade chains where second-hand and new pieces are wholesaled for apparel and crafts.^[81] Complementing textiles, Hmong oral traditions and instrumental arts preserve history in the absence of widespread literacy until recent decades. The qhuab ke, a form of chanted storytelling or dirge, recounts genealogies, moral lessons, and migration sagas through rhythmic verse, serving as a mnemonic device for cultural continuity across non-literate generations.^[82] Performed by elders, these narratives adapt to contemporary contexts while anchoring identity to pre-modern roots.^[83] The qeej, a bamboo free-reed mouth organ with multiple pipes, functions as both musical instrument and narrative tool, its seven-note melodies encoding poetic instructions and historical recitations that mimic spoken tones.^[84] Crafted by skilled artisans from local materials, the qeej demands years of mastery to play complex sequences, underscoring its role in skill-based transmission akin to textile work.^[85] In communal settings, its performances reinforce shared memory through auditory patterns that convey layered meanings accessible primarily to initiates.

Religion and worldview

Animist beliefs and shamanism

Hmong traditional animism centers on the belief that spirits, known as dab, inhabit natural elements, ancestors, and all aspects of the environment, requiring rituals to maintain harmony and avert misfortune.^[87]^[88] This worldview lacks a monotheistic hierarchy, instead emphasizing decentralized interactions with myriad spirits tied to kinship lineages and ecological forces, where ancestral spirits influence daily affairs through observable patterns of reciprocity rather than omnipotent decree.^[89] Empirical observations from ethnographic studies note that such beliefs reinforced adaptive behaviors, like seasonal migrations aligned with natural cycles, fostering survival in rugged terrains without reliance on abstract theological structures.^[89] Central to these practices is the concept of multiple souls per individual—often described variably as 12 to 32 ethereal components, including the plig (fetal soul anchoring vitality) and mus (animating breath)—which can wander or be captured by malevolent spirits, leading to illness interpreted as spiritual disequilibrium.^[87]^[90] The txiv neeb, or shaman selected through involuntary spirit possession, enters trance states to negotiate with these entities, invoking chants and rhythmic gongs to diagnose and retrieve lost souls via the huv plig ceremony, a communal soul-calling ritual documented in field accounts as restoring psychological equilibrium through collective affirmation.^[91]^[92] Animal sacrifices, typically chickens or pigs, form a core mechanism, where the creature's life force is ritually transferred to bolster the patient's souls or placate offended spirits, with post-sacrifice feasting reinforcing clan bonds and social reciprocity.^[93]^[92] Taboos against introducing blood or metal objects into homes during rituals stem from fears of contaminating sacred spaces housing ancestral altars, as metal evokes forged weapons disruptive to spirit pacts and blood risks invoking predatory entities; violations reportedly correlated with heightened communal anxiety during historical displacements.^[94] These proscriptions, while framed supernaturally, empirically supported hygiene and averted resource waste in pre-modern settings.^[4] Shamanic healing integrates herbalism, employing empirically effective plants like ginger for anti-inflammatory effects alongside incantations, yielding causal outcomes such as symptom alleviation attributable to bioactive compounds rather than solely spiritual intervention.^[92] Studies of Hmong communities highlight rituals' role in bolstering cohesion amid adversity, as shared ceremonies mitigated stress through endorphin release from rhythmic participation and reinforced mutual aid networks, observable in reduced isolation during famines or conflicts.^[90]^[89] This pragmatic fusion underscores animism's adaptive utility, prioritizing verifiable social and physiological mechanisms over untestable metaphysics.^[95]

Adoption of Christianity and syncretism

Missionary efforts among the Hmong intensified in the 1950s, when American and French Protestant missionaries developed the Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) to promote literacy and translate Christian texts into Hmong languages.^[96] This initiative, occurring amid French colonial presence and later U.S. involvement in Laos, facilitated initial conversions by associating Christianity with education and written scripture, contrasting with the Hmong's predominantly oral traditions.^[97] By the 1970s, wartime disruptions and refugee flows amplified these efforts, as churches provided aid that linked spiritual conversion to practical survival needs like language acquisition.^[98] In the U.S. diaspora following the 1975 fall of Laos, Christian conversion rates surged due to sponsorship by Protestant organizations, which offered resettlement support tied to faith adoption; estimates indicate that approximately 50% of Hmong Americans identified as Christian by the early 2000s, predominantly Protestant, with rates stabilizing around 40-50% in subsequent decades.^[5] Literacy programs in churches played a causal role, enabling Hmong refugees—many illiterate in their native tongue—to access English education and economic opportunities, thereby reinforcing conversions beyond mere doctrinal appeal.^[99] However, full doctrinal assimilation remains incomplete, as empirical observations show persistent retention of animist elements, such as belief in dab (malevolent spirits) influencing illness, often reframed within a Christian worldview where Jesus is invoked to expel them rather than through shamanic rituals.^[100] Syncretic tensions arise from churches' prohibitions on shamanism, with some Protestant denominations requiring converts to dismantle altars and abandon spirit consultations to affirm exclusive faith in Christ, viewing such practices as incompatible idolatry.^[101] Despite these bans, many Hmong Christians maintain hybrid observances, particularly in funeral rites, where traditional soul-guiding ceremonies involving the qeej (reed pipe) and ancestral invocations persist alongside Christian services to ensure the deceased's spirit reaches ancestors, reflecting incomplete severance from animist causal explanations for death and afterlife.^[102] This retention underscores that conversions often prioritize communal and educational benefits over total rejection of pre-existing spirit ontologies, leading to intra-community conflicts where stricter churches decry syncretism as diluted faith.^[103]

Demographics and distribution

Core populations in Asia

In China, the Hmong constitute a subgroup within the officially designated Miao ethnic minority, with population estimates for this specific branch ranging from approximately 4 to 5 million as of the early 2020s, concentrated in the southwestern provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guangxi.^[104] These figures reflect a subset of the broader Miao population, which exceeded 11 million in the 2020 national census, amid ongoing assimilation pressures and limited emigration compared to Southeast Asian counterparts.^[105] Vietnam hosts around 1.39 million Hmong according to the 2019 population and housing census, primarily in the northern mountainous provinces such as Hà Giang, Lào Cai, and Yên Bái, where they form about 1.45% of the national total.^[106] In Laos, the 2015 census recorded 595,028 Hmong, accounting for roughly 9% of the population and mostly residing in highland areas of Xiangkhouang, Xieng Khouang, and Luang Prabang provinces, though numbers have declined due to postwar persecution and refugee outflows since the 1970s.^[107] Thailand's Hmong population stands at over 100,000, estimated at 125,000 to 150,000 in recent assessments, with communities settled in the northern highlands of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Nan since migrations in the 19th and 20th centuries.^[108] These core groups face persistent poverty in remote highland terrains, reliant on slash-and-burn farming and limited cash crops, exacerbated by national opium eradication campaigns; Laos's push since 2001 reduced poppy cultivation from 26,800 hectares in 1998 to near elimination by 2006, disrupting Hmong household incomes without fully effective alternative development programs.^[109] Similar bans in Thailand from 1959 onward transitioned some Hmong to coffee and other crops over decades, but residual economic vulnerabilities remain.^[110] Government ethnic classifications vary: China's People's Republic integrates Hmong under the Miao umbrella for minority policies offering educational quotas and autonomy in designated areas, yet many Hmong assert a distinct identity from other Miao branches like Hmu or Xong, viewing "Miao" as an exonym imposed historically.^[104] In contrast, Vietnam and Laos recognize "Hmong" (or "Mèo" in older Lao usage) as the primary designation, aligning more closely with endogenous self-identification.^[4]

Global diaspora populations and growth trends

The Hmong diaspora emerged largely after 1975, as refugees fled Laos amid the fallout from the Vietnam War, dispersing to countries including the United States, France, Australia, and Canada. By the 2020s, the global diaspora numbered over 400,000 outside Asia, with the United States hosting the largest share at approximately 336,000 in the 2020 census, reflecting a 29% increase from 260,000 in 2010 and an 89% rise from 175,000 in 2000.^[8]^[111] This expansion occurred despite assimilation pressures, driven by natural increase rather than new immigration, as Hmong immigrant numbers stabilized around 100,000 since 2000.^[8] Population concentrations in the U.S. remain in urban clusters like California (107,458 residents in 2020), Minnesota (95,094), and Wisconsin, often in lower-income neighborhoods with established ethnic enclaves.^[112] Smaller diasporas include an estimated 13,000–15,000 in France, primarily in Paris and surrounding areas, and about 3,000 in Australia, settled mainly in New South Wales and Victoria since the 1980s.^[4]^[113] Growth in these communities stems from higher fertility rates—typically 2–3 children per family among diaspora Hmong, exceeding replacement levels in host societies facing demographic declines—coupled with chain migration in earlier waves.^[8]^[70] Remittances from diaspora earners, particularly in the U.S., support extended kin in Laos and Thailand, contributing to household stability in origin areas amid regional migrant flows documented by the World Bank.^[114] These transfers, often informal and family-directed, underscore ongoing transnational ties even as second- and third-generation Hmong navigate host-country integration.^[115]

Diaspora adaptation and society

Resettlement in the United States

Following the fall of Saigon in April 1975 and the communist victory in Laos, the United States initiated resettlement for Hmong allies who had fled to refugee camps in Thailand, with initial airlifts evacuating 1,000 to 3,000 individuals in May 1975.^[43] Processing occurred primarily in camps like Ban Vinai, which housed up to 45,000 Hmong by the late 1970s until its closure in 1992, where candidates underwent UNHCR referrals, in-person interviews by U.S. officials, medical screenings, and security background checks coordinated by the State Department and intelligence agencies to verify persecution claims and exclude security risks.^[41]^[116]^[117] The Refugee Act of 1980 formalized admissions, enabling over 150,000 Hmong arrivals between 1975 and 2000 through principal refugee slots and subsequent family reunifications under provisions like the Lautenberg Amendment, with processing extending into the 2010s for extended kin.^[118]^[119] Initial aid via the Reception and Placement program, administered by voluntary agencies such as Catholic Charities, provided 90 days of case management including temporary housing, basic orientation, job placement assistance, and cash/food support to facilitate self-sufficiency.^[120]^[121]^[122] Voluntary agencies dispersed arrivals to states with available low-skill manufacturing jobs, concentrating placements in Rust Belt areas like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan to leverage industrial employment opportunities amid 1970s economic conditions.^[122] This approach, however, created mismatches with Hmong agrarian lifestyles from Laos' highlands, where subsistence farming predominated over urban wage labor. First-wave arrivals faced acute challenges from illiteracy rates exceeding 80 percent in their native language—highest among remote highland groups—and zero prior exposure to English, complicating immediate adaptation despite provided ESL classes.^[123]^[124]^[125]

Economic integration, education, and entrepreneurship

Hmong Americans have shown marked improvements in high school completion rates since the 1990s, when dropout rates exceeded 50% due to language barriers and limited prior schooling among refugees, dropping to around 20-30% by the 2020s as measured by the proportion without a high school diploma falling below 48% in 2020 from over 60% in earlier decades.^[126] ^[127] However, postsecondary attainment remains low, with only about 13% holding a bachelor's degree or higher as of 2020, lagging far behind the overall Asian American rate of over 50% and reflecting persistent skill gaps in navigating higher education systems.^[128] ^[129] Economic integration has progressed unevenly, with poverty rates at 17% in 2022—higher than the 10% Asian average but down from peaks exceeding 50% in the 1990s—driven by entry-level employment in manufacturing and service sectors, though median household incomes have risen to approach national levels in some states like Minnesota by the early 2000s before stabilizing amid ongoing challenges.^[130] ^[131] Welfare dependency has declined significantly from over 60% in initial resettlement periods to lower rates by the 2010s, correlating with increased labor force participation, though a substantial portion of households still rely on public assistance due to low-wage jobs and large family sizes.^[132] Entrepreneurship has emerged as a key avenue for advancement, particularly in Minnesota, where Hmong-owned businesses in retail, markets, and services generate over $100 million in annual revenues in the Twin Cities alone, leveraging clan and lineage networks for startup capital, labor recruitment, and customer bases rather than formal banking.^[133] ^[134] These social ties facilitate low-barrier ventures like flower shops and ethnic groceries but limit entry into high-tech or capital-intensive fields, where educational deficits hinder competitiveness, underscoring a pattern of niche economic adaptation over broad sectoral integration.^[134] ^[135]

Family dynamics and intergenerational shifts

Traditional Hmong family structures emphasize patrilineal clans, with extended kinship networks providing mutual support and authority centered on elders and male lineage heads.^[62] In the diaspora, particularly in the United States, these structures have partially shifted toward nuclear family units due to urban housing constraints and economic pressures, though clan affiliations persist for social welfare and marriage alliances.^[136] This adaptation often results in multigenerational households where immediate family members coreside, but broader clan ties weaken compared to rural Asian origins.^[4] Intergenerational tensions arise as first-generation immigrants uphold collectivist values like filial piety and arranged marriages, while 1.5- and second-generation youth, exposed to host-country individualism, prioritize personal autonomy and romantic choice.^[137] Respect for elders remains a core value, with youth often deferring to parental authority in decision-making, yet conflicts emerge over dating norms, education paths, and gender expectations.^[138] Bilingual navigation—balancing Hmong dialects at home with English in schools—exacerbates these divides, contributing to higher risks of school dropout and gang involvement among males, who face cultural pressures to assume provider roles amid limited opportunities.^[139]^[140] Teen pregnancy rates among Hmong American females aged 15-19 have historically exceeded national averages, with early 2000s data indicating approximately 117 births per 1,000 in some communities—far above the U.S. rate of around 40 per 1,000 at the time—linked to limited sex education and cultural taboos on premarital discussion.^[141] More recent analyses show rates three times higher than other Asian subgroups, around 88 per 1,000 in 2012, reflecting ongoing challenges in family communication and access to reproductive health resources.^[142] These patterns strain kinship ties, as unplanned births disrupt traditional marriage expectations. Divorce rates among Hmong Americans, while remaining low at 3.7-4% as of 2009-2011—below the U.S. average of 10.6%—have shown a steady increase over prior decades, attributed to clashes between traditional patriarchal roles and women's growing economic independence in host societies.^[143]^[144] Women, traditionally subordinate with responsibilities for household and childcare, now enter the workforce, challenging male authority and leading to separations over infidelity, abuse, or unmet expectations.^[145] Custody norms favor fathers per custom, but U.S. legal systems introduce variability, further complicating post-divorce clan dynamics.^[4]

Controversies and debates

Cultural practices and human rights concerns

Hmong cultural practices, particularly those rooted in patriarchal family structures and traditional shamanism, have raised human rights concerns in diaspora communities, including elevated rates of domestic violence and conflicts with animal welfare standards. Studies indicate that intimate partner violence affects a significant portion of Hmong women, with one survey of Hmong American college students finding that 32.8% of female respondents experienced violence from romantic partners, often linked to norms emphasizing male authority and female subservience.^[146] These patterns persist despite acculturation pressures, as traditional expectations of wifely obedience can normalize physical discipline, contributing to underreporting and limited service utilization.^[147] Shamanic rituals, central to Hmong spiritual healing, frequently involve live animal sacrifices—such as chickens, pigs, or occasionally dogs—to retrieve lost souls or appease spirits, practices that have provoked animal welfare objections in host countries. A 1995 incident in California, where a shaman sacrificed a puppy during a healing ceremony, sparked public outrage and highlighted tensions between cultural rites and local prohibitions on cruelty to animals.^[148] While some communities have adapted by reducing animal use or substituting symbolic offerings, these ceremonies continue to conflict with veterinary and humane society regulations in places like the United States.^[149] Remnants of early marriage traditions, including unions involving girls as young as 12 or 13, have persisted among some Hmong diaspora groups, contravening statutory age-of-consent laws and raising child protection issues. In California's Central Valley during the 1990s, reports documented Hmong men arranging such marriages, often leading to welfare dependency and interrupted education for brides.^[150] More recent accounts from 2016 note ongoing traditional weddings for minors under 18, viewed by advocates as power imbalances rather than benign customs, prompting internal community debates and legal interventions.^[151] Community-led initiatives have driven empirical reductions in these practices, emphasizing culturally attuned education over imposition. In Wisconsin, a 2024 pilot program supported Hmong domestic violence survivors through housing and advocacy tailored to clan dynamics, fostering reporting and autonomy without alienating participants.^[152] Similarly, peer interventions and awareness campaigns among Hmong women have addressed early marriage by highlighting health and legal risks, yielding voluntary shifts toward delayed unions.^[153] These efforts underscore causal links between internal reform and declining incidence, independent of external coercion.

Clan conflicts, crime, and welfare dependency in host societies

In host societies, particularly the United States, Hmong diaspora communities have experienced persistent clan-based conflicts that manifested in elevated youth gang activity during the 1980s and 1990s. Gangs such as the Menace of Destruction (MOD), formed in Fresno, California, in the late 1980s by Hmong youths seeking companionship and protection amid discrimination and cultural dislocation, often drew lines along clan affiliations, importing feuds from traditional patrilineal structures where loyalty to one's pw hawj (clan father) supersedes broader social integration. ^[154] ^[131] These groups engaged in violent inter-gang rivalries, including drive-by shootings and homicides, contributing to homicide rates in Hmong-heavy neighborhoods that exceeded national averages for similar demographics; for instance, Fresno's Hmong areas reported clusters of gang-related killings tied to retaliatory clan disputes in the early 1990s. ^[154] ^[155] Such violence stemmed from causal carryovers of clan insularity, where extended kinship networks prioritized internal allegiance over host-society norms, exacerbating isolation and fostering parallel power structures resistant to law enforcement mediation. ^[156] Hmong gangs also perpetrated non-rival crimes like kidnapping, rape, and forced prostitution, targeting both intra-community members and outsiders, with documented cases involving dozens of victims in California by the mid-1990s. ^[155] This pattern reflects policy shortcomings in refugee resettlement, such as inadequate screening for cultural conflict resolution mechanisms and placement in urban enclaves with limited oversight, which allowed clan hierarchies to replicate homeland vendettas without incentives for dilution through assimilation. Compared to other refugee groups like Vietnamese, whose smaller family units and entrepreneurial networks enabled faster dispersal and lower violent crime involvement, Hmong clan cohesion prolonged gang persistence, hindering generational breaks from cyclical feuding. ^[157] ^[131] Welfare dependency among Hmong households remained markedly high into the 2000s, with over 70% reliant on public assistance in the late 1990s—far exceeding the 35% rate for Vietnamese refugees and 20% or less for other Southeast Asians—due to large extended families averaging 7-10 members per household, which strained single-income or aid-supported structures. ^[157] ^[131] This dependency, initially near 100% upon arrival in states like Wisconsin during the late 1970s and 1980s, persisted because clan-based living emphasized communal resource pooling over individual self-reliance, diverting welfare funds to support non-nuclear kin and discouraging labor market entry amid low English proficiency and education levels. ^[158] Poverty rates hovered at 38% in 2000, twice the U.S. average, reflecting slower upward mobility than peer refugee cohorts; Vietnamese households, for example, achieved median incomes 50% higher by the 2000s through nuclear family focus and skill adaptation, while Hmong insularity reinforced welfare traps via cultural norms valuing clan welfare over personal advancement. ^[132] ^[157] Resettlement policies favoring clustered placements amplified this, as geographic concentration preserved clan dependencies without countervailing incentives for dispersal or skill-building. ^[131]

Political activism and identity politics

Hmong American advocacy groups have pursued formal recognition of their ethnic identity and historical military alliance with the United States during the Secret War in Laos, including efforts to erect memorials honoring General Vang Pao, the former commander of Hmong forces. Statues and monuments to Vang Pao, who died in 2011, have been installed in multiple U.S. cities, such as a bronze statue unveiled in Fresno, California, in December 2013 during the Hmong International New Year celebration, and another in Chico, California, dedicated in 2015 after a prior version was vandalized.^[159]^[160] These memorials emphasize Vang Pao's leadership in CIA-backed operations against communist forces from 1960 to 1975, framing Hmong contributions as pivotal yet underacknowledged in U.S. narratives of the Vietnam War era. In the 2020s, Hmong organizations have intensified campaigns for accurate demographic representation in federal data, protesting the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 reclassification of Hmong Americans from Southeast Asian to East Asian categories, which they argue distorts resource allocation and erases their refugee origins tied to Indochinese conflicts.^[128] In May 2024, Hmong leaders met with Census Bureau Director Robert Santos to demand reclassification as Southeast Asian, citing the group's distinct linguistic and migratory history from Laos and Thailand, with an estimated 360,000 Hmong identifying in the U.S. as of 2023.^[161]^[8] This activism aligns with broader pushes for disaggregated data under the 2020 census, though critics within Asian American coalitions note potential fragmentation of pan-ethnic voting blocs.^[162] Hmong communities exhibit organized electoral participation, often functioning as cohesive voting blocs in states with significant populations like Minnesota and Wisconsin, where campaigns target them through ethnic media and cultural events. In Minnesota, Hmong political power has grown through elected representatives, such as state legislators, enabling influence on refugee policy and education funding, though some leaders have questioned the long-term efficacy of identity-based strategies following electoral setbacks in 2010.^[163]^[164] During the 2020 and 2024 U.S. presidential cycles, Democratic campaigns, including those supporting Tim Walz and Kamala Harris, mobilized Hmong voters in swing states by highlighting anti-communist heritage and refugee protections, with turnout efforts emphasizing family networks and clan affiliations.^[165]^[166] Empirical data indicate Hmong Americans lean Democratic, with over 70% support in recent Minnesota elections, driven by welfare access and immigration policies, yet pockets of bloc shifts occur in response to economic integration concerns.^[167] Debates on repatriation versus permanent settlement have largely centered on resisting forced returns to Laos, underscoring commitment to U.S. integration amid ongoing persecution risks for Hmong remnants. Advocacy against Thailand's 2007 push to repatriate thousands of Hmong refugees from camps highlighted violations of non-refoulement principles, with human rights groups documenting post-return arrests and disappearances in Laos.^[168] Recent U.S. deportation efforts targeting Southeast Asian refugees, including Hmong with criminal records, have revived tensions, prompting community lawsuits and congressional interventions to affirm settlement as a bulwark against homeland instability.^[169] This stance contrasts with earlier refugee deliberations in the 1970s-1980s, where initial family separations during resettlement fueled preferences for permanent U.S. basing over uncertain returns.^[170] Identity politics among Hmong Americans has drawn internal scrutiny for potentially prioritizing ethnic essentialism over broader assimilation, with some analyses arguing that victim-centered narratives of war trauma and displacement can eclipse emphases on military agency and self-reliance. Scholarly examinations of Hmong political representation note that essentialist appeals—framing politicians as inherent "stand-ins" for the community—may constrain crossover appeal and reinforce dependency on ethnic enclaves, as observed in post-2010 legislative losses in Minnesota.^[171] While such narratives mobilize turnout and secure targeted aid, they risk undervaluing intergenerational shifts toward economic independence, where second-generation Hmong prioritize universalist policies like entrepreneurship support over refugee-specific entitlements.^[172] This tension reflects causal trade-offs in identity mobilization: short-term cohesion aids advocacy, but prolonged emphasis on historical grievances may hinder full civic incorporation, per empirical studies of immigrant ethnic politics.^[173]

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Hmong Textile Symbols
Like all art, Hmong paj ntaub (flower cloth) is inspired by their environment. The motifs and symbols represent everything from nature to architecture, ...Missing: history geometric<|separator|>
[79]
“Hmong Reverse Appliqué: Cultural Meaning and Significance” by ...
Aug 3, 2022 · A double snail-shell design may symbolize two families lined in marriage. Another type of paj ntaub called “story cloth” can be traced back to ...
[80]
Hmong Paj Ntaub: “Flower Cloth” - Visual Culture - WordPress.com
Oct 7, 2009 · These were used to form geometric patterns in fabric that have had specific symbolic meanings. As the Hmong faced the upheaval of war and ...
[81]
[PDF] Complete dissertation - VU Research Portal
based trade in which Hmong women sell their second hand textiles and embroidery to. Vietnamese wholesale. The second chain is cross-border trade. Vietnamese ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[82]
Hmong and Hmong Americans in Minnesota | MNopedia
Jan 27, 2016 · On July 16, 1976, a group of Twin Cities-area Hmong met to discuss their resettlement challenges and plan ways to build a diasporic community.
[83]
Experience Hmong Storytelling in its Original Tongue: An Interview ...
May 7, 2025 · Oral storytelling serves as a connection to the past, present, and future while preserving history, culture, and traditions. In Hmong ...
[84]
Qeej - Organology: Musical Instruments Encyclopedia
It is most prominently featured in Hmong funeral ceremonies, where it guides the soul of the deceased to the afterlife. The melodies played on the Qeej ...
[85]
[PDF] Hmong Instructions to the Dead - Asian Ethnology
The free-reed mouth organ, or qeej, encrypts lengthy sung poems in its seven musical notes, creating a dis- guised language that can only be understood by the ...
[86]
Hmong instructions to the dead - What the mouth organ Qeej says ...
The free-reed mouth organ, or qeej, encrypts lengthy sung poems in its seven musical notes, creating a dis- guised language that can only be understood by the ...
[87]
What Is Hmong Shamanism? - Religions in Minnesota
Traditional Hmong religion is animistic with the belief of ancestor worship. It is a religion based on spirits.
[88]
[PDF] Hmong Religion - Asian Ethnology
The Hmong are pantheists, believing in a variety of natural and super natural spiritual forces living in and animating all things. The Hmong.
[89]
[PDF] Animist Relations in Nature - Center for Lao Studies
Abstract. Hmong are an ethnic group from East and Southeast Asia who have a rich tradition of animism. Animistic worldviews are often recognized for their ...<|separator|>
[90]
Hmong shamanism. Animist spiritual healing in Minnesota - PubMed
Hmong shamanism maintains its traditional role in health and healing. Many Hmong who see physicians also rely on shamans for restoring health and balance.
[91]
Hmong Shamanism - Religions in Minnesota
The individual who can communicate with these supernatural beings is known as a txiv neeb, or shaman. The first shaman was known as Siv Yis ("Shee Yee").
[92]
[PDF] Khawv Koob Hmoob
Calling the lost soul back to the body. 1. Using herbal remedies combined with spiritual incantations. 2. Performing animal sacrifices to appease offended ...<|separator|>
[93]
Hmong Rituals: Birth, Marriage, Death, Healing
Food plays a very important role in Shamanistic rituals. Usually, the animal that is being sacrificed would become the meal for the guests, but nowadays, some ...
[94]
Washoua & Bao · Hmong Shamans in Minneapolis
The dab qhua relates to the xwb kav, which is the most holiest and more protective thing in the house. It is made of paper money, feathers and chicken blood.
[95]
(PDF) Biomedical encounters and human adaptability - Academia.edu
A second component of Hmong health care encompasses the use of herbs for healing. Hmong herbalism functions parallel to shamanistic practices; concentrating ...Missing: cohesion | Show results with:cohesion
[96]
Hmong Americans - History, The hmong in laos
They practice swidden (slash and burn) agriculture, meaning that the Hmong clear fields by burning, thereby fertilizing the ground with ashes. Since this ...Missing: Burma | Show results with:Burma<|control11|><|separator|>
[97]
The Hmong Religious Experience - Akha.org
The disagreement among some Hmong families with Animist practices and fear of animist beliefs also influenced conversion. In Hmong Animism, if a person is ...Missing: retention | Show results with:retention
[98]
RELIGION AND LITERACY IN THE LIFE OF A HMONG AMERICAN
Jan 19, 2011 · This research documents ways in which conversion to Christianity brought changes to Hmong clan and family relationships, as traditionalists ...
[99]
(PDF) The word: Religion and literacy in the life of a Hmong American
Aug 9, 2025 · The lack of literacy is a motivating factor in Hmong Christian conversions. Messianism is seen as a reaction to Christian conversion, which ...
[100]
[PDF] HMong Spiritism - Lutheran Society For Missiology
This paradigm opened the way to syncretism among the HMong Catholics. Many families could not completely break from their animistic practices. Many claim to ...
[101]
Protestantism among the Hmong People in the Mountainous Region ...
Feb 2, 2024 · This study, based on textual analysis, participant observations, in-depth interviews, and field trips, seeks to explore the Hmong conversion to Protestantism.Missing: percentage | Show results with:percentage
[102]
[PDF] rituals, roles, and responsibilities included in a hmong funeral: a ...
Since arriving in the United States in the late 1970s, the majority of Hmong families still practice their traditional rituals, especially their funeral ritual.
[103]
[PDF] The Hmong Spiritual Formation from Animism to Christianity
The research project is on the Hmong religion. Hmong people believe in a faith called. "Animism – the way of the spirit," which is a created religion that ...
[104]
[PDF] 1 The Miao in China: A Review of Developments and Achievements ...
Dec 16, 2019 · million Miao population in China as consisting of four major subgroups in terms of ethnicity – the Hmong, the Ah Hmao, the Kho Xiong and the Hmu ...Missing: 2020 | Show results with:2020
[105]
MIAO MINORITY: HISTORY, GROUPS, RELIGION - Facts and Details
There are an estimated 15 million to 16 million Miao and Hmong worldwide. The Hmong diaspora is scattered across the globe. They exist on five continents.
[106]
Population of Vietnam's ethnic groups
The population of Vietnam's ethnic groups according to the 2019 Population Census, including the Kinh ethnic group and 53 ethnic minorities, is detailed in ...
[107]
[PDF] The 4th Population and Housing Census 2015 - UNFPA- Lao
... population is shown in Table 3.4. Slightly over half of the nation's population (53 percent) belong to the Lao ethnic group. Khmou and Hmong are the second ...
[108]
The tribal women of Thailand fighting tradition, violence and rejection
Jan 4, 2020 · Hmong women in Thailand face great inequality in their own communities. ... population of about 150,000 in Thailand, has been pushing for change.
[109]
[PDF] Opium Poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle - unodc
Motivated by a desire of modernization and poverty alleviation, the government of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand made the commitment to end opium cultivation in ...
[110]
The Evolution of Counter Narcotic Efforts in Thailand
Jan 14, 2019 · Thailand's approach was carried out over 30 years to eliminate opium poppy cultivation and uplift the living standards of its marginalized ...
[111]
Hmong Population Growth In Minnesota, Wisconsin, And California
From 2010 to 2020, the U.S. Hmong population increased by 29%, growing from 260,073 to 335,919. This marked a 97% growth over three decades (1990-2020), ...Missing: 2020s | Show results with:2020s
[112]
[PDF] Hmong Population Trends in the 2020 U.S. Census By Mark Pfeifer ...
The 2020 Census population count showed. Minnesota with 95,094 moving considerably closer to California (with 107,458) over the decade. In 2020, nearly 79% of ...Missing: 2020s | Show results with:2020s
[113]
Hmong of Australia: Outcomes of Identity Formation - Gary Yia Lee
Today, the total Hmong population in Australia is estimated at 3,400 – a small number compared to those in other countries.
[114]
Remittances - World Bank
Sep 18, 2024 · The movement of funds from the country of work back to a home country is known as remittances. In 2023, remittances back to home countries totalled about $656 ...
[115]
Remittances in East Asia and Pacific - World Bank Blogs
Aug 1, 2023 · Officially recorded remittance flows to East Asia in 2022 stood at $130 billion of which East Asia's share excluding China (share of 39 percent) was $79 ...
[116]
Refugee Processing and Security Screening - USCIS
Mar 14, 2024 · This page provides information about the security screening and background checks required by the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) as well as the refugee ...
[117]
Refugees Undergo the Most Rigorous Vetting Procedures to Enter ...
Jan 8, 2025 · Refugees undergo the most rigorous vetting procedures of any individuals entering the United States – ensuring their safety and the safety of our communities.
[118]
How American Refugee Policies Changed Hmong Religious Life
Between 1975 and 2000, the United States resettled approximately one million Southeast Asian refugees in an ambitious undertaking of unprecedented scale, cost, ...<|separator|>
[119]
H. Rept. 106-563 - HMONG VETERANS' NATURALIZATION ACT OF ...
The purpose of this bill is to expedite the naturalization of aliens who served with special guerrilla units in Laos during the Vietnam War.Missing: vetting aid
[120]
Belonging: The Resettlement Experiences of Hmong Refugees in ...
Sep 30, 2014 · Approximately 120,000 Hmong were resettled in the West over a number of years beginning in 1978, primarily in the United States, but also in ...Missing: Rust Belt
[121]
[PDF] U.S. Refugee Admissions Program - TRAC
Jan 20, 2023 · PRM provides initial assistance to arriving refugees and certain others through its Reception and Placement program. This assistance includes ...Missing: aid | Show results with:aid
[122]
How did Hmong people find their way to Wisconsin? The answer ...
Apr 13, 2022 · Hmong refugees were legally admitted to the United States and were initially resettled by church organizations such as Catholic Charities ...Missing: Rust Belt
[123]
[PDF] Research - ERIC - U.S. Department of Education
Now, however, Hmong secondary stu- dents are failing at a higher rate than the rest of the student body. O'Reilly listed sev- eral academic problems among Hmong ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[124]
The Hmong Literacy Project: A Study of Hmong Classroom Behavior
that a major part of the problem that Hmong students face in learning. English is a lack of first language literacy as well as the absence of formal ...
[125]
Predictors of English fluency among Hmong refugees in Minnesota
The first group of 102 Hmong refugees located in Minnesota by the ... literacy, study of English while in Asia, less proximity to other Hmong ...Missing: wave rates
[126]
[PDF] Hmong American Educational Attainment 2000-20201 By Yang Lor ...
This rate dropped down to about 61 percent in 2010 and less than 48 percent in 2020. As the percentage of Hmong Americans with a high school degree or less has ...
[127]
[PDF] 1 Hmong Americans' Educational Attainment: Recent Changes and ...
However, between 2004 and 2010, Hmong females' proportion of high school dropouts gradually increased from 2.1 percent Page 9 Hmong Americans' Educational ...Missing: 2020s | Show results with:2020s
[128]
The US Census Bureau Misclassified the Hmong. Our Community ...
May 21, 2024 · Recently, the US Census Bureau reclassified Hmong Americans from Southeast Asian to East Asian. This misclassification not only ensures that ...
[129]
Educational attainment of Hmong population in the U.S., 2019
Apr 29, 2021 · All Asians, 27%, 19%, 30%, 24% ; All Americans, 39%, 29%, 20%, 13% ...
[130]
Key facts about Asian Americans living in poverty
Mar 27, 2024 · Burmese (19%) and Hmong Americans (17%) were among the Asian origin groups with the highest poverty rates in 2022. Meanwhile, Filipino (7%) and ...
[131]
[PDF] 1 Economic Progress of Hmong Americans: The First Twenty-Five ...
Hmong refugees initially had low human capital, but their median income rose to parity with the US median by 2000, matching by 2003-04.
[132]
[PDF] Hmong Socioeconomic Trends in the US by Chia Youyee Vang ...
Although Hmong reliance on public assistance has decreased significantly from their early years in the U.S., a high percentage of Hmong Americans continue to ...
[133]
Hmong and Hmong Americans in Minnesota - MinnPost
Apr 14, 2025 · On July 16, 1976, a group of Twin Cities-area Hmong met to discuss their resettlement challenges and plan ways to build a diasporic community.
[134]
The Ties that Bind: The Role of Hmong Social Networks in ...
The four social networks identified as being particularly important to the Hmong are: lineage, blood ties, clan relations, and self-identity of being Hmong.
[135]
[PDF] The Role of Hmong Social Networks in Developing Small
Mar 2, 2015 · After obtaining the land, the Hmong entrepreneur encouraged relatives to cultivate rubber. Recruitment was done through word-of-mouth, relying ...
[136]
The Family Life and Adjustment of Hmong American Sons and ...
Aug 10, 2025 · Immigration often results in changes in family dynamics and gender roles, the loss of social networks and cultural identity, and ...
[137]
Intergenerational Family Conflict and Coping Among Hmong ...
Problem solving and social support, as different styles of coping with intergenerational family conflict, were examined among 86 Hmong American college ...Missing: shifts | Show results with:shifts
[138]
[PDF] Tradition and Change in First and Second Generation Hmong ...
ABSTRACT. The objective of this project is to study the generation gap between Hmong parents and their children. A series of oral history interviews was ...
[139]
[PDF] Hmong High School Students in Afterschool - ERIC
Initially, when Hmong students began to attend U.S. schools, their achievement rate was perceived to be low, and Hmong students had high dropout rates, in.
[140]
[PDF] hmong youth gang violence in sacramento region - Sac State Scholars
is to focus on various aspects of life affecting Hmong youth in the United States that could potentially lead to them becoming involve in gang activites in the ...
[141]
Teen pregnancy rate increasing among Hmong - Post Bulletin
Mar 29, 2003 · Researchers found that 116.6 out of every 1,000 Hmong -- which includes men, women and children -- was a teenager giving birth. The rate among ...
[142]
[PDF] The Lived Experience of Second-Generation Hmong American Teen ...
The Hmong, also known as Miao is a group of people whose origins are not known. They were first mentioned in China's recorded history between the sixth and.
[143]
Hmong Americans: A Demographic Portrait | Oxford Academic - DOI
Jan 31, 2013 · According to the 2009 ACS, the estimated divorce rate of the Hmong was 3.7 percent, well under half of the American average (10.6 percent of ...
[144]
[PDF] Divorce, Sex, and State of Residence among Hmong Americans By ...
The latest data from the 2011 ACS show that the percentage of divorced and separated was 4.0% and 2.6%, respectively. Studies have shown that reported rate of ...
[145]
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192513X231162966
[146]
Awareness and appropriate response to domestic violence among ...
Findings indicated that 32.8% of Hmong college women had some violence from their romantic partners and two thirds of Hmong college men and women were aware of ...
[147]
[PDF] Acculturation and Utilization of Domestic Violence Services
“Domestic violence and abuse of women in Hmong families is sometimes the accepted norm… Men made the rules and women kept their place” (Multicultural. Advocates ...
[148]
Hmong's Sacrifice of Puppy Reopens Cultural Wounds : Traditions ...
Dec 16, 1995 · The Hmong shaman tried all the usual offerings. He burned paper money, sacrificed a chicken and a pig, even sought the remedies of American doctors.Missing: welfare concerns
[149]
Q&A: LEAP Student Grantee Quincy Yangh on Animal Kinship in ...
Jan 4, 2024 · For example, in the past, Hmong ceremonies entailed a lot of animals, like sacrifices or using feathers from chickens. But in the U.S., it's ...Missing: welfare concerns
[150]
The Child Brides of California : In the Central Valley, Hmong men ...
May 4, 1993 · In the Central Valley, Hmong men continue the tradition of marrying girls as young as 12 or 13. Most of them quickly become welfare mothers. But some women are ...
[151]
Hmong Women Talk About Underage Marriage Tradition
May 19, 2016 · Most of the Hmong population continues to have a traditional wedding with all the rituals to be recognized as husband and wife, some of them under 18 years old.
[152]
How Hmong women in Wisconsin are tackling domestic violence
Jul 12, 2024 · A $7.4 million pilot project in Wisconsin is helping domestic violence survivors in traditionally underserved communities overcome housing and ...Missing: interventions reforms
[153]
Hmong Community Advocates Take On the Divisive Issue of Child ...
Nov 2, 2015 · Pa Der Vang, a professor at St. Catherine University who has studied Hmong teen marriages, says that the marriages are about abuse of power, ...
[154]
[PDF] Organized Crime in California Annual Report 2007-08
The Menace of Destruction is a criminal street gang that came into being in the late 1980s in Fresno where Hmong youths banded together for companionship and ...
[155]
Violence of Hmong Gangs and the Crime of Rape
Kidnapping, rape, and prostitution are their most frequent and most violent crimes against non-gang members. In one case, 33 victims were identified as having ...
[156]
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9125.12409
[157]
[PDF] Welfare and Work among Southeast Asians1
Refugees assisted by. American families and church congregations have a higher employment rate, thus a lower rate of welfare usage, than those assisted by their ...
[158]
Living in Wisconsin: 'Hmong people are truly American, if not more ...
Apr 13, 2022 · Lor said “pretty close to 100%” of Hmong refugees were dependent on welfare and public housing when they came to Wisconsin in the late 1970s and ...<|separator|>
[159]
New Gen. Vang Pao statue unveiled - YouTube
Dec 27, 2013 · A new, larger statue of Gen. Vang Pao, the Hmong leader who died in 2011, is unveiled during the Hmong International New Year at the Fresno ...Missing: United | Show results with:United
[160]
The Dedication of a Statue of the Hmong General Vang Pao in ...
Sep 14, 2015 · A statue of General Vang Pao was first erected in Chico in 2012, but last year it was vandalized. The memorial committee has erected the new ...
[161]
Hmong Leaders Meet with Census Director on Hmong ... - SEARAC
May 29, 2024 · Santos of the US Census Bureau to discuss the need to reclassify the Hmong as Southeast Asian. The meeting comes as a result of a letter and ...Missing: 2020s | Show results with:2020s
[162]
Asian American leaders worry that U.S. Census Bureau's refusal to ...
Aug 24, 2024 · The 2020 census marked the first time the Census Bureau released the data sets that provided disaggregated data for hundreds of racial or ethnic ...Missing: 2020s | Show results with:2020s
[163]
Cultivating Hmong American Political Power in Minnesota - AAPI Data
Aug 7, 2025 · By Sieng Lee August 7, 2025. Key points: The Hmong community in Minnesota has transformed into a powerful political force, driven by decades ...
[164]
Hmong leaders consider value of identity politics after losing seats
Aug 17, 2010 · DFL activists Pakou Hang and Tou Ger Xiong say many Hmong-American voters have become more politically savvy than they were about a decade ago.
[165]
Hmong Minnesotans who support Gov. Tim Walz hope to sway ...
Oct 11, 2024 · Hmong Minnesotans watched as Gov. Tim Walz was catapulted onto the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris.
[166]
Hmong Voters Could Be Key To Winning Wisconsin. Here's How ...
Oct 26, 2020 · Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, left, meets with Hmong veteran Cher Kai Xiong, far right, and Yee Leng Xiong, who provided ...<|separator|>
[167]
AAPI Voter Demographics Data by State - APIAVote
Learn about the AAPI demographics data by state and their growing influence in US elections. Find state-specific data on voter engagement and population ...
[168]
Thailand: Protect Hmong Refugees - Human Rights Watch
Aug 30, 2007 · The Thai government should not forcibly repatriate thousands of Lao Hmong refugees currently detained in Thailand to likely persecution in Laos.Missing: settlement debates
[169]
Ice's deportations of south-east Asian refugees creating 'ripple effect ...
Sep 29, 2025 · Administration's targeting of group settled in the US after fleeing war in Vietnam creating further displacement.
[170]
The Hmong Refugee Experience - Learn Uake
It was estimated that more than 100,000 Hmong people lived in the refugee camps after 1975. There were three refugee waves coming from Laos into Thailand ...
[171]
[PDF] Exploring Hmong American Political Representation
Apr 26, 2017 · The politics of essentialism make Hmong American politicians wary of 'standing for' and 'acting for'. Hmong Americans, influencing their ...
[172]
Hmong Americans' Protest Movements and Political Incorporation in ...
... U.S. political system? Second, how do broader political contexts or homeland circumstances shape Hmong American politics and the state's treatment of Hmong in ...Missing: activism | Show results with:activism
[173]
Immigrant Agency: Hmong American Movements and the Politics of ...
Through a sociological analysis of Hmong former refugees'grassroots movements in the United States between the 1990s and2000s, Immigrant Agency shows how H.Missing: activism | Show results with:activism