Green Bay

Marriage

Hmong marriage is very different from American marriage, because in our culture we get to choose who to marry. But in Hmong culture, their elders or someone in their clan arrange the marriage.

–Mariah

It isn’t just two people getting married; it isn’t just two people. It’s two families, two villages, and two clans.

–Sara K.

Yia Thao also talked about what you need at a wedding: Bridesmaid, Bestman, Two marriage negotiators from bride’s side, Groom, Bride, Two marriage negotiators from the groom’s side, One elder, Two parents from each side, and Two brothers, by religion.

–Emma

After that, the bride and groom negotiate about the dowry, and how to treat each other with respect. Both sides give money, but the son’s parents give money to the bride’s parents and it is kind of like buying her. They gave silver coins in Laos, but here they just give money.

–Gabby

You can’t marry your own clan; that’s the law. If you marry a man you become [one of his] clan. In the regular weddings the man steals the brides to the man’s house. When they get to the man’s house, the parents have to hold a chicken and wave it around the man and bride, and what I think that means is that the bride is becoming that clan or a welcome.

You need a mej koob to get married. A mej koob is a person who helps out with the marriage to make the bride a new life and to make her part of her new family.

–Pakou

There are two different kinds of ways to meet to be married:

1. The bride and the groom meet at the Hmong New Year at the ball toss.

2. The marriage for the bride and groom would be a request by the relatives of the groom’s family, family elders, and sometimes a request of the bride’s family.

–Jeremy

Conflict Resolution

In Hmong conflict resolution, there is no appeals system. If the family elders make a decision, it’s final. They do not appeal it to the next level of community elder. If the family elders do not make a decision, but the clan community elder does, the ruling is final and the case does not go to court.

–Tim

If the girl doesn’t want to get divorced and the guy does, then the guy would have to pay money for the girl to go home, and go live with her family again.

–Jenny

Hmong people’s clans are Xiong, Thao, Vang, Yang, Lao, Lee, Cha, Moua, etc. If a woman and a man are going to divorce in Hmong they need to go to the elders, parents or family, or relatives come and help you. In Hmong, you don’t go to courts to get a divorce—only for Hmong Christians—but Hmong go to the people they already know. The judge is like a stranger to you, and your people are not a stranger to you, and I think that’s why some Hmong people don’t want to go to church and don’t know the language.

–Pakou

In the Hmong culture the people who solve conflicts are the elders. Not every old Hmong can be an elder. They have to be elected or chosen. In every clan there are about three to four elders.

–Gabby

If a Hmong person gets in trouble or has a problem with somebody else, they go to the clan elder. If the clan elder thinks the problem is important enough, the person goes to the community elder. Then the community elder lets them go to court, or makes them go to court.

–Dylan

A question I had is if you are a Hmong married lady, and you had a problem, and you were going to your elders, would you go to your new elders (your husband’s) or your original clan elders?

–Mariah

At the Hmong center in Green Bay, a woman dressed her daughter, Christina, in traditional green Hmong clothes. The lady dressed her oldest daughter in white Hmong clothes. The traditional outfits were so different, but yet they both are from Hmong culture.

–Mariah

We asked Hmong kids what they thought about the traditional clothes they were wearing. One girl said the clothes were heavy. The other one said the clothes were tight. I knew what she meant, because she had about five scarves wrapped around her waist.

–Martha

When they wear Hmong clothes they feel more Hmong, but when they wear American clothes they feel American. They overall feel American because they were born in America, but they learned the Hmong language first.

–Gabby

We asked the adults if they called Laos home, and they said yes. Then we asked the kids if they called Laos their home. They said no. I think it’s interesting that parents call one place home, but the kids think of their home as another place halfway around the world.

–Sara K.

At the United Hmong Community Center in Green Bay we heard a storyteller named Mr. Pao Xiong tell a Hmong folktale.

–Jeremy

Mr. Xiong came in to tell us a Hmong story with his voice and a slide projector. First, he told us to get up and exercise. That’s just what we did. We sat down and he told us he was a member of the Xiong clan and that Xiong means Bear.

–Izzy L.

The story was about three orphan boys who moved to the jungle and met some friendly tigers. The boys had to feed the tigers because they were too young to hunt.

–Alex

There were three orphan boys who got chased and teased by the other boys. Their only friend was a short fat boy who helped them run away from the other boys. The leader of the village said ‘move downstream and into the jungle’ so they did. One night, as they were fretfully trying to get to sleep, some tigers broke into their shelter. They gave themselves over to the tigers but the tigers didn’t want them. They were orphan tigers and they were hungry.

–Izzy L.

The tigers [who had a lot of money] gave the boys some money to go buy some meat, so they went to the butcher who saw the money and said he had never seen that kind of money before. He went to ask someone else about it and was told the money belonged to a very rich king and queen. He asked the boys where they got it but they wouldn’t tell.

–Gabby

Everything went as planned until they recognized the money as belonging to an ancient queen. One of the boys was brought to the palace of the king where he was questioned but he wouldn’t answer anything. The king tried coaxing him, saying if he told where he got the money, he could marry his daughter. He had some time alone with the daughter. She wanted the money but he married her first. He got the money, and he became king.

They gave the fat boy some money and let him marry the prettiest girl in the village. The mean boys wanted to become friends with them now, so they could get some money and wives but the orphans [now kings] were suspicious and didn’t become friends with them because they remembered how they had treated them when they were young.

–Izzy S.

After some time with the tigers, the orphans moved back into town. One became a king (tiger king) and the others became civilians.

–Benjamin

At the end, they got to keep the money. Their fat friend got married to the most beautiful girl in the village because he had treated the orphans well. That’s why Hmong children are so respectful.

–Jenny

As for the short fat boy, they gave him the position of General of the army and the prettiest woman in the village as his wife.

The moral of the story is: be nice to everyone because you don’t know what they will become when they grow up!

–Izzy L.

The story was kind of funny because tigers can’t really be your friends. They will eat you up!

–Mark

I think stories about tigers are very popular because there are a lot of Hmong stories about tigers. I’ve heard a LOT of tiger stories.

–Pakou

[The story] was rather confusing. It’s not much different from the other Hmong stories because they were confusing too. The story was so confusing that at one point I just couldn’t understand it. It would be interesting to ask Hmong people if they understood the story.

–Sara K.

I quickly learned that not all storytellers are alike. Some just tell stories in one, drawling, boring, bored voice. Others use one voice for the main character but then change it, in other words, too many voices! But, some use their normal voice for the narrator and different voices for the characters but keep the voices the same throughout and put a lot of excitement into it. Mr. Xiong spoke in his normal voice for the narrator and when dialogue started, his voice would get high and, although the voices of the characters were all high, they were all different too. I enjoyed the story nonetheless!

–Abigail

When I went into the kitchen of the Hmong community center, there were three Hmong women making the food stuff for the inside of the egg rolls.

–Nico

When we got to the kitchen, I and a group of kids went over to see a woman chopping raw meat into very small pieces. This was for the chicken noodle soup. Strangely, she chopped the bones, also.

–Izzy L.

We got to make egg rolls with a couple of Hmong women. A lot of us had never done egg rolls before so it was a little difficult at first but as you kept going it got easier and easier.

–Gabby

We started out with these packages of spring rolls. They are like tortillas but they are square and not as crunchy and burnt, so someone had to peel them off of each other.

–Thomas

The mixture to put inside of the egg rolls had little noodles, carrots, and some green vegetables. The mixture was really squishy on my fingers, but it felt good to touch the mix. While we made egg rolls the Hmong woman made rice and chicken soup with noodles in it. It didn’t take long for the Hmong women to cook the meal.

I wonder what it would be like having rice every day and having egg rolls a lot.

–Dylan

The stuff to put inside the egg rolls was already made. Our job was to actually get the stuff inside a thin sheet of slightly paper like dough, and roll it the way we were shown.

–Abigail

First, we took all the stuffing and put it on one side of a square tortilla kind of thing. Then we would roll until we got into the middle, tuck in the corners, and keep rolling ‘till there was just a little piece not rolled. We’d then dip our fingers into egg yolk and put the egg yolk on the piece of egg roll that wasn’t yet rolled up. After that we’d roll the rest of the egg roll. The yolk prevented the egg roll from coming unrolled. The egg rolls had to be tight or they would not survive the heat of the [oil].

–Sara K.

First you take some of this egg mixture. I’m not sure what’s in it but I think there is raw beef, cabbage, and an egg white (save the yolk).

–Martha

We had meat in our [egg rolls], but you can have them without the meat.

–Izzy S.

I love eating egg rolls but most of all I like making them because it’s more fun making than eating them, I say, because you take more time making them, than eating them.

–Cristina

There is a very precise way of wrapping the egg rolls that I cannot put into words. It was fun making them, but it was even better eating them.

–Benjamin

We dipped the egg rolls in sweet and sour sauce.

–Pao

We also had chicken curry soup and sticky rice and regular rice. The difference between sticky rice and rice is you eat rice with chopsticks or forks and you use your hands when you eat sticky rice.

–Emma

The egg rolls were very delicious. I never had such good egg rolls. I felt like eating more but I had one more thing to eat; the tasty Hmong soup.

–Mark

The egg rolls were fresh, the soup was cool and umm, umm the sticky rice was good!

–Erika

But in that time I was there, I had already learned how to make egg rolls. I learned how to roll them up and had gotten ingredients in person from a Hmong lady. I even made egg rolls at home for supper one day this week.

–Mariah

One very traditional thing which Hmong people have kept for many years is cooking, a specialty. They have squash-drinks, sticky rice, egg rolls, regular rice, salads and much more. The names are sometimes strange, but the foods are delicious!

A VERY important rule is that it HAS to be TIGHT! If it isn’t, it won’t taste as good when it’s all done cooking and ready to be eaten.

–Maggie

The Hmong women made spicy Thai soup and rice. I loved every bite of that meal so much. The next day I made egg rolls for dinner!

–Nate

For a long time, Hmong people have been known to prepare a lot of food for a lot of people in a very short notice. Some Hmong traditional food is sticky rice. Sticky rice is rice in the shape of a hot dog, with no bun that you hold in your hand.

–Jeremy

A man named Vaughn Vang went with some students to visit Hmong villages in Thailand. They got to do a lot of neat stuff. They were grinding corn for feed for animals with a horizontal pole they pulled around in a circle, which made a stone move and grind corn. They also smashed rice to make dough. They took a special paddle and kept hitting the rice hard on a wooden plate until it got doughy.

–Izzy S.

In Green Bay, we saw a video made by Vaughn Vang about Thai Hmong and how they live. Thai Hmong live a simple life with no engine-powered machines, which means that they have no watches or alarms or electricity. In each town, they have at least one of each kind of worker—blacksmith, butcher, etc.

–Jeremy

Vaughn Vang showed us a video he had made about a Thai Hmong village. They didn’t have any modern technology. They had tools for grinding corn and for making rolls. It was really interesting to see people living a totally different life than us.

–Dylan

My favorite part was when they wound hemp. They wound it using a wheel and pedals.

–Thomas

When Vaughn Vang went into the Thai villages with some teenage students, they met an old lady. She was nice and gentle. She taught them stuff. When they left, the old lady cried. She didn’t want them to leave, because she didn’t have any other people to come and visit.

–Mark

The video was about a class like ours studying Hmong culture. They got to beat rice, weave, and try other stuff Hmong traditionally do. They also spoke to elders, and one lady was so happy they came she cried.

–Erika

The Hmong were persecuted in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and possibly China. In Thailand, the Hmong were forced to change their names to avoid persecution.

–Tim

When they crossed the Mekong River some Hmong didn’t know how to swim, and sometimes the adults carried children on their backs or put babies into baskets.

–Pakou

Nhia Cha and Mayhoua Yang opened the butcher shop because there are still Hmong refugees coming to America, and most of them are very poor. Nhia and Mayhoua have been down that path before, and they didn’t want other refugees to suffer the way they did. So they have very low prices—like a hundred pounds of meat for only ten dollars…

Mayhoua is the secretary at the Butcher Shop. Being the secretary isn’t an easy job. You have to sign in the people, take them outside to look for the animal they want, give them a coupon (receipt?) for the animal they want, go out and watch the animal get killed and gutted, then give the animal to the [customer]—all for only a very small amount of money…

A Shaman comes to tell the animal it will be killed and…sent with a person who died…to guide him to his or her new life.

–Nate

You can get the blood with the animal. The blood is important for the Shaman to use in a ritual. When a pig dies, it becomes the guide for the spirit of a dead person, guiding it through all the places it has been to, and all the things it did. The pig is a guide because animals have a better instinct of where home is.

–Dylan

They ask you how you want the animal killed, by one electrical shock, or in the traditional way. They butcher an average of eleven animals a day, three of those in the traditional way.

–Alex

The pigs were in a cage about two feet tall. There was a big chain that hung down above a blue bucket. A worker attached the chain to one of the pig’s legs and pressed a green button and the pig went up. The pig was screeching and thrashing. After about a minute, it started to calm down. We walked out, but I had my head turned and she brought a knife and passed it through the pig’s flesh into the heart. Blood poured against the bucket like an explosion from a water balloon hitting the cement. Now the pig was screeching as loud as a fog horn.

–Nico

I was staring at a hog as long as me, cut in half. It was hanging by its hooves from chains in the ceiling. Its ears were flopping down, its eyes were closed, and its tongue was lolling out. On a table nearby there was another hog’s head. I got so grossed out, I went to the house…. At the house, there was a qeej player named Nhia Vou. He had recently come from Laos and was staying with Mayhoua and her husband for a year. Mr. Vou knew one INCREDIBLY useful word of English: “Hi.” He was extremely good at playing the qeej. The music was soothing. Whenever we had a question, we’d ask John, one of Mayhoua’s thirteen children. Mayhoua and her husband were very hospitable. Before we left, they gave us food and juice.

–Abigail

When we entered the butcher shop we were greeted by the smell of blood. Everywhere. I nearly couldn’t stand it. We met Mayhoua Yang, who is the butcher shop’s secretary…. She led us to the pig pen and told us about the procedure for butchering. First, the customer comes into the shop and checks in. Then they go to the pen and pick the pig they want butchered. The pig is brought into a smaller pen where it will stay until it gets butchered. The pig is picked up by one leg and hung on a chain. Once it is up, it is killed. After that, they flip the pig over into hot water, and then onto a drying rack. Once it is dry, it is hung up by its hind legs.

–Benjamin

Mayhoua showed us two horns. One was bigger than the other. It was a bull’s horn. She told us that the longer the horn, the better…. Once the ivory is worn off a bull’s horn, it is good for many purposes. You can use it as a bugle, for decoration, to draw on, and countless other ways. Mayhoua set the bull’s horn into a wooden box, with some other horns dripping with blood. Next she showed us a goat’s horn, also good for many different purposes. It is very good for curing fever. You get a horn without ivory, and put water in it. Then the sick person drinks it and it keeps the fever away. If a Hmong child’s soul is weak, they will cut off the tip of a goat’s horn and use it as a pendant. If you want to be powerful and magical, use a goat’s horn. Many Hmong people have it hanging in their home. Its stench also keeps away roaches.

–Izzy L.

Mayhoua said that when you die, you will be reborn. If you have a big, big goat horn, when you die you will be reborn and be rich and strong. If you wear a goat horn, you’ll be very safe. Spirits cannot come and get your soul.

–Pao

The Hmong do not have a big special person like Jesus or God in their religion. The Hmong also do not go to church or a temple.

–Nate

From sacrificing a cow at a funeral to shamanic healing, most traditional Hmong culture has a basis in the religious. Traditional qeej playing, weddings, funerals, they all are a part of the Hmong religion.

–Tim

At May Houa’s house, they showed us a special wall called the Buddha wall. They told us that you pray to the sprits when you want something, and if you get it, you must burn “spirit money.”

–Abigail

A shaman is like a doctor. People go to the shaman when they feel bad. The shaman can bring back your spirit or chase away bad ones. While the shaman’s spirit is in the spirit world, the helper beats drums and plays instruments loudly and the shaman chants.

–Gabby

About half of the Hmong are Christian and half have traditional beliefs. Christian Hmong still do Hmong things, though. Vue Yang is Christian, but he plays qeej at his church.

–Sara K.

My mom has an altar in our new house. It protects my brothers who sleep in the new house.

–Mark

At New Year’s everyone needs bright new clothes. If you go to New Year’s in dull, old clothes, people know that your mother is lazy and she doesn’t sew for the new year.

–Izzy L.