BY: Sue Lee
BY: Sue Lee
Who are the Hmong people? Where are they from? How was their ways of living like? How did they get into America? To me these are the few answers I hope to find and to get a better understanding for in this paper, since I am a Hmong myself. Whenever I look back upon my own history, I realized I'm clueless. All I know so far as is that my family is from Laos and we have been living in America for almost 19 years. I know it's going to take a great deal of work and concentration if I was to do a history of my family. So that's why I'm willing to expand my research to find the very beginning of the Hmong history and how they get into America and other part of the world. To at least get a grip on how they lived back then, their ways of surviving, and their struggles to survive. If I really wanted to know who they really are, I'll have to look hard and dig deep into the history of Asia because most of their history was not written documents. The Hmong are a small group of people who lived in the mountains that borders China and Laos. There, many people would not have encounter with them and the one that does, are probably the anthropologist. Since they lived in the mountains, the Chinese consider them to be nomadic, barbarians and wild people. Sometimes also refer to as the "Miao". For they are not civilized and didn't lived the ways the Chinese did. For example like in the old days when American's considers the Indians barbarians. So since the Chinese and the Hmong culture was different, the Chinese thought theirs were better; therefore, they must dominant over the Hmong.
This is the reason I decided to do my research on the Hmong people because I wanted a better understanding to my own heritage and history. I wanted to know how my ancestors were treated and their ways of living back then compare to now. Is it the same? Or has it changed? Also, I wanted to get a better understanding of what caused the Hmong to migrate into China, Laos, Thailand and even into America.
(http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong/history/laos.html)To get a better understanding on the history of the Hmong and the ways of living, I have checked out a book in the library call, Migrants of the Mountains, by W.R. Geddes. In his book, he talked about the origins of the Miao people and the meaning of the word Miao. He also talked about the social relationship in a family, such as the clan, marriage, ways of living and etc. He also talked about the tribal ways of living in the different villages. The social value of the clan, the subs clan, cohesion of the clan and clan membership. What I've learned from his book was mostly about the ways of living and the origins of the Miao people. Which was what I wanted to know but I needed more information.
So I decided to look in the Internet to find other resource, and the first place I went to was the Hmong homepage. I found some articles written by Gary Yia Lee. The first one talked about, "Refugees from Laos: historical background and causes." Mentioning the early history of Laos, the Indochina War, Communist rules, North Vietnamese and American involvement, peace settlement and resistance and refugees. The second, "Minority policies and the Hmong in Laos," talks about the Hmong in Laos, private feuds and public effects, the Hmong resistance, new policies and socialist orders. The third talked about the family ties. I also found an article by Alex Pulaski talking about the War between the Chinese and Hmong.
(http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong/history/vang-pao.html)From these articles I learned about the Chinese and Hmong War and the Vietnam War which caused many Hmong to migrate into Thailand, China, France and America. How the war split up many families and how the communist was trying to take over Laos. Forcing many Hmong into rebellions and to revolt against the Chinese, fighting for their freedom. Which caused many their lives.
In order for me to get
a decent account of the many things that happen to the, Hmong. I'm
going to use my resources and my own knowledge to see if I can get a
better understanding. It's strange that I don't have full knowledge
of my own historical heritage.
From the beginning of time the Hmong never had a homeland or a country to call their own. They were like outcast moving from place to place trying to find a land suitable for farming and agriculture. Also, many accounts I heard from my parents saying that Hmong and the Chinese has been at war for many years trying to see who will dominant the other. Many Hmong fought for their lives from the start of time trying to win their freedom. According to Alex Pulaski, "War between the Chinese and Hmong continued for centuries, largely because the Hmong, true to their name, refused to relinquish their culture and submit to Chinese rule. In 826 B.C., 300,000 troops of the Chou dynasty routed the Hmong and forced them to flee into the mountains for safety. Migration - generally to the south toward Indochina - and fighting continued. A Hmong kingdom was established in the beginning of the fifth century, and for five centuries they flourished in
relative peace." (http://mrfrench.cslab.uwlax.edu/~vang_sn/WEB/h-hist.html) This meaning that many wars was fought for over a long period of time. Hmong wanted their freedom from the Chinese, since long ago the Chinese has held the Hmong as their slaves. They wanted freedom more then anything else in the world even if it caused them their lives, families and all the things they hold important to them. The Chinese also called the Hmong, "Miao" meaning barbaric and nomadic. It wasn’t after a period of time that the Hmong came and called themselves "Hmong" meaning free. So free is what they wanted to be. Free from slavery, free from the Chinese and free to do what they want. Many migrated to the mountains of Laos to start a new life, a new culture, and even called themselves Hmong not Miao. They started villages and tribes. Adopted sounds and languages from the Laos and made it possible to start their own language. Follow a few Chinese traditions to ways of living and religions. Of how they believe in life after death and the spirits of the dead living in other spiritual world. Then histories for the Hmong finally started.
(http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong/history/ban-vinai.html)
The ways of living for
the Hmong was different. They lived in their own clan, and in each
clan there was a head master of the clan. The head master would be
the one who is the wisest and the one who has been in the clan the
longest. He would be the one to watch and take care of the whole
tribe. Whenever problems arouses they would come to the head master
to seek out answers. Also the ways of living is surrounded by guys
being the dominant one’s to the clans and girls are more likely
to be outcast. For after the girls run off and get married she is no
longer her parents clan, but taken part of her husband clan's.
According to Gary Yia Lee, "Few Hmong know for long the close ties of
the nuclear family as an isolated unit. As soon as a son marries and
brings his wife to live in his father's house, the family becomes an
extended household. Firstly, therefore, we have a nuclear family, and
then the male siblings bring in their wives and children under the
same roof, giving the fullest expression to their relationship in the
form of the extended household. This cluster of classificatory
brothers may later separate into different households; but they,
together with their spouses and offspring, can become a lineage.
Lineal ties will be remembered. If it is forgotten, the sharing of
common ancestral rituals will be evoked in reckoning the lineage
membership with other people." As today this kind of living is still
practiced around the Hmong communities. It's been passed on down from
many generations ago, so many must keep their heritage. Clan ship
hasn't been changed also. Today there is known many clans that had
made it into America. Here are some example, Lee, Xiong, Vang, Thao,
Yang, Her, Vue, and etc.
Many people believed that the Hmong first migrated into parts of Laos and Vietnam from China in the early 19th century. Some even believed that the Hmong originated from Mongolia. But no true or large evidence of the Hmong being originated from Mongolia has been conclusive. Since there were not many written documents that mark their existence. They are seekers and travelers. They would travel from place to place over a period of time seeking for better fertile soil to cultivate crops and rice. Which makes it hard for them to also keep a record of their movement. They prefer to live close to the tops of mountains to get better view of the valley. According to Geddes, "The normal and natural habitat of the Miao is the mountains. Only in the heights are they in their elements and elsewhere they are at a lose and ill at ease. Fish in the water, birds in the air, and the Miao in the mountains, they say." (Geddes 1976: 30)
Many years they lived in peace in the mountains at ease with nature and free will. There they cut down forest to build houses and cultivated crops and rice. Even raised a little live stock of chickens, pigs and cows. Their basic need for survival was rice, livestock, hunting and gathering. At this rate they was doing good until the early 1950 when the North Vietnamese wanted to take over Laos. Soon the Americans would come to the aid. But the Americans weren't aware of guerilla warfare and many lost their lives. So the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) asked the Hmong to be their secret agents because they were more familiar with the grounds and guerilla warfare. The CIA promises to give the Hmong what ever they needed and passage to America after the war, and becoming citizens of the U.S. Many Hmong fought side with the CIA under the guidance of General Vang Pao. Many Hmong lost their lives and many lost their families. Not only the Hmong was fighting against the North Vietnamese but also the Americans and the South Vietnamese, to stop the communist from taking control. "Incursion by American and South Vietnamese troops into southern Laos to search for NV arm caches in February 1971 drew only a mild protest from Souvanna Phouma. The RLA took advantage of the occasion to proclaim a nation-wide state of emergency. The North Vietnamese retaliated by attacking Long Cheng, which served as the base of CIA Special Forces under General Vang Pao, the commander of the RLA Second Military Region. In March, NV troops seized Attapeu in the south of Laos, and also harassed Luang Prabang with rockets. By mid-May, NV soldiers had overrun almost the entire southern Laos." (http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong/hmong-au/refugee.htm)
After many years of
fighting the Americans withdrawal their troops out of Laos. Left the
Hmong by themselves and many was slaughter or POW by the North
Vietnamese. Villages were burned down, people being shot trying to
escape. Many Hmong ran to seek cover in the hillside or in the dense
forest. While others went to refugee camps that was set up in
Thailand. A lot of people died in this short period of time.
According to Gary, "On his part, Vang Pao alleged that 50,000 Hmong
died from PL chemical poisoning between 1975 and 1978, while another
45,000 perished "form starvation and diseases or were shot trying to
escape to Thailand''
Several years in the
refugee camps many were allowed passage into America or where they
desire. This was finally the start of a new life in a New World for
many Hmong. Few stayed in Laos or in Thailand. Others migrated into
parts of China and France. But the majority of the people migrated
into America hoping to fulfill the promise the CIA and Americans
government gave them. Only to find that the promises wasn't kept by
the American's
Today all over the United States the Hmong has settle down in cities, towns, countryside or anyplace that is populated by their clan. Not just in the U.S. but also parts of the world. According to Chang, "It is estimated that by 1990, more than 90,000 Hmong refugees have gone to live in the United States; 6,000 in France; and 3,000 in Canada, Australia, Argentina and French Guayana. Thai officials estimated 3,000,000 prewar Hmong population less than 200,000 made it to safety." (http://www.egr.msu.edu/~change1/A.hmong.index.html)
To my beliefs I think that the Hmong is from China or part of some Asian culture or perhaps the great ancestral of the Chinese. But somewhere along the line they manage to break free and ran to the mountains and started their own race of being. It is uncertain for me to get the exact origins of my people. But from this new knowledge I found, I might say that maybe the Hmong was once the first people to come into China. But later on was over thrown by the more powerful and more populated Chinese. At least now I have a better understanding of why we were once called "Miao" and how my ancestors fought with the Chinese. I always thought that it was only in the Vietnam War that the Hmong people were at war. But now I know how the Hmong migrated into the mountains of Laos and China. Lived in peace and started their own ways of living and soon was at war again with the North Vietnamese. This then was the major impact on the Hmong people, which caused many their lives, homes, families and chance for freedom. So hoping to find a way out they fight along side with the CIA to get a second chance for freedom as secrets agents. But only to find it at the end the only freedom they had was to come and seek a better life in America or elsewhere. Leaving their homeland, family members and a lot of memories behind. Just to seek a better life in a New World.
Geddes, W.R.
1976 Migrants Of The Mountain. Oxford: Clarendon
Press.
Pulaski,
Alex
1996 The Hmong: Their History
http://mrfrench.cslab.uwlax.edu/~vang_sn/WEB/h-hist.html
Lee, Yia
Gary
The Relationship of the Hmong
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong-au/lineage.htm
Lee, Yia
Gary
Minorities Policies and the Hmong in Laos
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/cdr/hmong/hmong-au/refugee.htm
Chang, E
"Why People and Government Fight Wars" The Vietnam War, and its
effects on the Hmong people.
http://www.egr.msu.edu/~change1?A.hmong.index.html