The Hmong, the Lees' Experience, and the Conflict of Cultures

The Hmong’s believe in shamans. Shamans are religious specialists commonly found in small-scale egalitarian societies. They are believed to have the power to contact powerful cosmic beings directly on behalf of others, sometimes by traveling to the cosmic realm to communicate with them. Shamans are

They also feel as if their traditions and rituals are not practiced as much as it would if they were living back home. Many Hmong's start taking on American values, and as the new generation learns their culture and practices, it's hard to follow because they deviate towards the dominant culture which is American. Culture is said to decrease generation by generation and it influences portrayals of health and illness, and the treatments that individuals utilize. Individuals are all impacted by the cultural context in which are found; therefore, health benefits and practices are likewise culturally affected. (Warwick-Booth et al, 2014).

It was very tough for the Hmong’s that were still in Vietnam and Laos after the war. The American armed forces was these people’s only protection and after they just picked up and left for their home shores the Hmong people that were still alive faced severe hardships. They had no food and water and most of their homes were all destroyed. Most of the men and young adult boys were killed in the war and the Vietnamese and Laos soldiers were still pursing the Hmong people because they wanted to terminate the Hmong people. It was also tough for the Hmong people that were left because the American’s had stopped bringing food drops along with medical supplies.

and belongs to the Miao-Yao (Hmong-Mien) language family. Hmong students encounter several linguistic struggles when attempting to learn English (Lee and Trapp 2010). English and Hmong differ because Hmong is a tonal language, so variations in a speaker’s tone convey different meanings and messages. Hmong has no verb tenses and does not conjugate verbs which can be a difficult transition for students who are learning English. In the English language, we rely on verb tenses to understand at what point something was done. Understanding these dissimilarities is the first step toward providing the linguistic support these students require.

James Loewen’s The Mississippi Chinese: Between black and white illustrates the racial tones towards Mississippi’s “other” race, primarily in the Delta flatlands. Mississippi’s history revolves around racial narratives set in place by the advance of “King Cotton”. The racial undertones that followed Reconstruction in the South have deep roots in Mississippi. History tends to lean towards the African American oppression, however, oppression affected all who were not of primarily white ancestry. Enter the Mississippi Chinese, a race with ties to black and white popularity on both spectrums. The Mississippi Chinese provides in depth research towards a group of Mississippians often forgotten in Mississippi history, not to mention, reiterates insight to the growing Americanization of Chinese Americans.

"I have nothing with which to start a family. I am all alone in this life and land." The common thoughts of Hmong refugees as they began to settle in refugee camps and America are that of deep alienation and uncertainty. When the Hmong first entered the U.S., they were strategically dispersed across the country to promote faster assimilation. However, the stark contrast between the Hmong and America's cultures has made this move backfire. The integration of the Hmong has been especially difficult when compared with other immigrants, leading some Americans to believe that it is the fault of the Hmong. In reality, the problem was that their culture was unlike any of the other immigrants that the America has been exposed to. In order to examine any transition that the Hmong have undergone in America, we first must define, what it means to be Hmong and what it means to be American. Several texts have attempted to answer these questions and I will use them to correct the prevailing misconceptions of the Hmong. It is common belief that Hmong's culture is one of primitivity, dependency, and close-mindedness; I will show that these beliefs are not only false but also propagated by cultural oppression and ineffective resettlement policies.

“Role loss” occurs when people lose their roles that they have within their families and/or society. These roles give us a sense of identity, it is essentially who we are and what we do. Moving to America had many consequences for the Hmong. They went from being self-reliant farmers to people who rely on the government for food and health care. The Hmong despised the idea of being on welfare, but when it pertained to work, the only things they knew how to do, there were no jobs for. Consequently, the fathers could not provide for their families. The mothers, who traditionally would teach their children in the home were required to send them to school. Several of their custom traditions were looked down on in the U.S, and therefore the Hmong

Until this day, there are little to no information or recognition of the Hmong as an ally with the Americans during the war. The Hmong’s were not acknowledged during the war by the U.S. government until the 1990s. The veterans that helped the former Hmong General Vang Pao want recognition from the U.S. government (Hays). People would say that when the soldiers died, kids would replace and help fight along with the Americans and when the kids died, the elderly's would replace them. Helms said, “Vang Pao has been forced to use 13 and 14-year-old children to replace his casualties (Weiner).” Today, most Americans know nothing about the Secret War. The war was a classified operation that was meant to be like it never happened. The Hmong in the United

There are dozens of Hmong traditions. Their traditions like most traditions began for political or cultural reasons. They protect and support personal customs and preserve culture. Most people have traditions and rules that are followed by everyone in their country; however, the Hmong do not have a country of their own so the only ones who know about and practice these traditions and rules are

The Hmong culture is one of proud people who fend for them selves. The Hmong people take great pride in raising their children. Their people have resisted assimilation and change throughout their history. The new language, culture and just functioning in daily life in America was a challenge to the Hmong community.

The Hmong were a tremendous Help to the Americans in the Vietnam war, they had shown the Americans where to go and aided them in gunfights, they helped heal some men who had injuries. Many Americans who were injured had aided by the Hmong people. The Hmong who consequently supported the American Military was called a terrorist. In return, they helped the Hmong, the bomb called the yellow rain dropped and killed a huge amount of innocent Hmong and died. The Yellow Rain was designed to kill the northern Vietnam army but had a large widespread killed radius (BOFFEY). The U.S couldn’t stop the war and brought some of the Hmong to America to help and ignited a new life trying to free them from their misery, hell, and torture. The Hmong held a parade

The Hmong Culture is very interesting. Approximately 25,000 Hmong reside in Fresno, California. In the Hmong culture the men must pay a price for their wives. Usually the price for a bride often ranges from $3,000 to $10,000. Traditionally, the groom’s side of the family must go to the bride’s home and ask her parents for permission to be wed. After both sides reach an agreement, then the next day a feast is held to celebrate their engagement.

“I lost 17,000 men, almost 10 percent of the total Hmong population," General Vang Pao said. "The Hmong sacrificed the most in the war and were the ones who suffered the most” (Vietnam War 'secret Army' Chief Vang Pao Dies in US). The C.I.A. recruited the Hmong as their allies when the communist Pathet Lao joined the Laotian government because the U.S. feared that the neighboring countries would fall into communism too. During the Vietnam War, negotiators from different countries agreed that Laos would remain neutral under the Geneva (Thompson). But because the United States feared the spread of communism, the C.I.A. directed a covert operation in Laos known as the Secret War. The Hmong people were abandoned, forgotten and treated poorly after

Loung and the rest of her family lived happily in Cambodia. But then the Khmer Rouge came to power with the goal to create a pure utopian agrarian society. Meng ( Loungs brother), his fiance Eang and Loung left to America in an attempt to escape the Khmer rouge forces. Because there was not enough money for everyone to go to america, they had to leave behind the rest of their family.

The Hmong people claim to have helped in the war, but no one has noticed who they were. The Hmong came from southeast Asia, many fled from the war as a refuge from their country, it’s melancholy that people need to do this. The main cause was a political war and it has lug on for a while, the war caused many deaths in the Hmong people and for other different ethnic groups in the southeast Asian countries. When America came to preclude the war from going further, they were aided by a secret army made by the Hmong people. But there were many casualties, especially in the Hmong population, near one third of the population perished in the involvement in the war. And they couldn’t take any more casualties so they fled.When they arrived in America, they mostly settled in Minnesota therefore separated slowly into other states. And as that happened, they slowly lost their customs as they lived in America. Then the Hmong was mistreated, they had been slowly forgotten and their aid was never recognized by the USA.