Abstract
The Hmong is one of the many human race groups who at the moment are occupying Minnesota and California cities found in the United States of America. The group is from different countries found in Asia for instance China, others from Vietnam whereas others have their roots in the country of Thailand.
The research seeks provide in-depth understanding of traditional cultural practices of Hmong people, comparing them with present time in order to motivate critical and creative thinking about differences in western culture and also prompt more research questions in the intercultural communication frontier. This paper will seek to explain why Hmong people living in United States are struggling with issues to do with identity, while upholding some of their cultural practices yet seeking to flourish in modern western culture, especially modern America.
CHAPTER 1
Introduction and Background Information
Unites States of America has a rich history and has complex multicultural groups of people due to migrations from many different races and ethnic groups all over the world. According to the 2009 census statistics of the United States, there are at least one hundred and fifty Hmong people who settled in the US and now identify it as their home. They have been travelling for a long time, and it is difficult for one to state their original home with precision.
Current literature points out that Hmong people lived in northeastern China about five thousand years ago. Culturally, they share common characteristics with people in East Asia particularly those communities in China, Japan and Korea. However, Hmong people have other physical features that set them apart; they have blue eyes, blonde hair and round eyes. According to (Cha, Dia 2003) it is believed that, once in history Hmong people must have resided in Europe and began migrating gradually to the South and East.
Hmong people began settling in America in 1976 after the war in Vietnam. During the war in Vietnam, the American CIA began friendship with these people in the hope that they could be of help during that time of war, an ambition that was achieved. After the war they become refugees in Thailand then finally made their way in the United States and settled in Minnesota.
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
In this topic, the current scholarly literature will be reviewed with the aim of understanding the historical and cultural facts of the Hmong people living in Minnesota. Various scholars and researcher have carried out extensive research will help fully understand address the problem of this study stated in previous chapter with a reasonable degree of confidence.
The basic unit of organization is the family. Everyone among the Hmong people belong to the family, usually headed by the eldest male there. Each family belongs to a clan whose members share a surname. According to (Fadiman, Anne 1997), the original number of clans was twelve. Putting in perspective their migratory lifestyle, few names were added to identify the diversified community members and now there are over twenty clans all over the world. In Minnesota, there are only eighteen clans, which form the largest group of those living in urban areas.
Traditionally, the Hmong community shared similar ceremonies, rituals and cultural values and norms. When their lineage began being diverse and complex due to migration and socialization with other cultures especially in US and Thailand, there are slight variations among those living in different places. Basically, there are two categories of Hmong people living in United States; green and white Hmong. These categories have nothing to do with their physical appearance. Just like British and American English, the green and white distinguishes them based on dialect (Leepreecha, 2001). These modifications have been used to as identity of different clans.
Despite the individualistic family model adopted by many in the US, the Hmong people still uphold collective approach. Membership to a clan is paramount and highly treasured. For instance, there are clan organizations having extensive membership in California and Colorado states. These organizations are both formal and informal but with one aim of embracing togetherness (Bliatout, 1993).
Traditionally, these group of people practiced art as a form of recreation and also a source of income. They have long history in bracketing, blacksmithing and jewelry making (Cha, Dia 2003). For young people in formal employment in the United States, they are mostly involved in theatre arts and entertainment.
CHAPTER 3
Analyzing Cultural Value Dimensions
The culture of Hmong people attaches very high cultural values on clan and family. They consider their cultural value to be very profound and almost sacred to them. The touch on various aspects of their lives such as religion, food, dressing, traditional medical practices among others. In this topic we analyze each of these cultural values and their dimensions in the context of modern western culture.
Historically, Hmong people have put importance on building and maintaining good relationship with the nonphysical world of spirits (Brotzman, & Butler, 1991). People who have upheld their customary religious principles are mostly animists. They believe that every natural object, animals and people have several souls. According to these beliefs, defensive and uninhabited spirits dwell in all objects, animals and natural places such as in caves and large water bodies. If an individual annoys the wild spirit, it is likely to put curses on the person. Such curses bring sickness and other forms of suffering not only to the individual but also to the entire family.
The spirits can be honored and appeased by elders performing sacrificial ceremonies. The nature of the adversity determines how elaborate the ceremony need to be; usually it may range from a simple song or chant to complex rituals involving animal sacrifices. The values in their religious practices are respect for nature and total harmony with the immediate environment.
Currently, there are a good number of Hmong people who are converted to Christianity in the United States. However, most of them still believe ancestor worship and animism to communicate with the spiritual world.
As noted earlier in the introductory part, Hmong people have their origin in Asia. Their staple food is rice. Dairy products were traditionally rarely taken, but due to interaction with other cultures, rice is now taken with some fish, green herbs and meat. They have however kept perinatal food throughout their culture. This is type of food eaten when one is sick (Cha, Dia 2003).
In traditional Hmong society, men dressed in tucked in black shirts and long trousers. Women dressed in a more decorative way than men. However, their level of dressing depended on their ethnicity. The dress could distinguish a woman from a particular ethnic group. In general, women put on brightly colored skirts, long trousers and other bungles. Today, traditional dresses are only worn on special days. They have also preserved some garments such as traditional amulets which the must put on in order to undergo shaman which is a ritual they believe it treats sickness.
Most Hmong living in the US, especially aged male people have mainly depended on self-employment, casual unskilled jobs while others rely on welfare programs as their source of income. In the United States today, the society depends on their educated young people when they get employment for family support (Fadiman, Anne 1997). Most of those who find formal employment work in manufacturing industries and theatre industry. There are few working in retail trading, health sector and education.
The traditional belief structure of the Hmong community is founded on reincarnation, animism and worshipping their ancestral spirits. This belief controls almost everything in a family and clan. Their belief on one being in good health condition is strongly attached to their spiritual practices and perspectives. They belief that although sickness can be caused by natural factors spiritual causes are more pronounced as the cause.
Traditional curing practices depend on a special category of people who are skilled to identify and give medical solutions to various ailments. These categories of special individuals include magical healers, herbalists and shamans. These people are specialists in their own unique way. For example, herbalists are able to diagnose diseases if they are caused by natural factors and gives out herbal medicines as a solution. On the other hand a shaman is a spiritual healer who deals with illnesses caused by spiritual factors or a combination of physical and spiritual issues. Because of the options of different healing experts, the cause of sickness for one person will affect the kind of healing that one seek (Cha, Dia, and Norma Livo 2000).
Over the years, some Hmong people have converted to Christianity. Those who now practice this religion have altered some religious beliefs as far as healing is concerned. Historically, the Hmong believed in ceeb (a form of sickness that befalls one due to a frightening incident). This kind of illness was cured using traditional massage, preceded by soul-calling ritual usually performed by shaman. Those who have become Christians still belief in this type of illness, they treat the problem by performing massage but then avoid soul-calling and resort to pray to God as per the Christian faith (Brotzman, & Butler, 1991).
CHAPTER 4
Family and Gender Socialization
This topic will pay uttermost attention on family structure and the gender socialization of the Hmong people. The Hmong people are usually group-oriented community, therefore the interests of a group are put before those of any particular individual (Duffy, 2004). A person is considered a family member, and a family a clan member. There are a total of 18 clans among the Hmong people living in Minnesota, and all people of a particular clan share a surname. This is meant to promote their identity in the bigger society. It is thus easy for one to differentiate people of the same clan from those from different clans by merely asking for their surname.
It is interesting to note that membership to a particular clan is not necessarily an indication of members who are closely related blood, or have one ancestral origin. Instead, they coexisting peacefully and helping each other as though they were brothers and sisters. Membership to a particular clan can be obtained by marriage, birth and adoption. Members of the same clan are prohibited from getting into marriage because this is against their societal norm, incest (Brotzman, & Butler, 1991). Upon marriage, the woman joins her husband’s family and by extension his clan. According to Duffy (2004), Hmong women nowadays are taking the surnames of their husband or include hyphen at the last part of their name and that of their husband.
Throughout history, the society of Hmong people has been controlled by their males. Men were regarded as head of the family. In Minnesota, a single household ordinarily would consist of between nine and fourteen people. This number often included extended family members. Such a family was under the leadership of the oldest male among them who had full authority over major decisions and directed all other members.
Parents took care of their children. Conversely, it was expected that children in return would take care of their ill or aged parents. In Minnesota, the boys were entitled to inherit family possession and formal education was only for boys (Rice, PraneeLiamputtong. 2000). Before war broke out in Vietnam, education opportunities were very few and basically knowledge was handed down to new generations orally using their rich folk tales. The oldest men in the society were regarded as knowledgeable people and hence were central when it came to religious matters. They would spearhead religious functions and ceremonies to appease their ancestors.
Women in Hmong society had domestic responsibility. They were responsible for making meals for the family, taking care of children and managing family income. A woman would gain fame and prestige in the clan by the number of children she gives birth to especially the male children (Cha, Dia and Dunnigan 2003).
As a result of migration which has led to interaction with other cultural groups in the United States, Hmong family structures are changing gradually over time. In particular, the various roles played by a family member by the virtue of their age have completely changed. For instance, there is a paradigm shift in leadership roles. As noted earlier, oldest males were custodians of leadership in the respective families they belong to. Today, aged Hmong depend on the younger people on almost everything; from language translation to provision of basic needs. This has made the aged among the society to have low self-esteem due to despair and therefore their social status completely changed (Leepreecha, 2001).
Hmong women have acquired formal education and training. As a result, they are no longer home keepers, but also seek employment and currently can work outside the community. According to the 2000 census statistics, Hmong young men and women are adopting western culture at an unusually high speed (Bliatout, 1993).
Traditionally, the Hmong economic activity has been agriculture. Therefore, an early marriage into a family was counted a benefit to the family because of the increased workforce to them. A woman needed to give birth to a male child in order to secure a safe status in the home. The born baby boy will be expected to grow and marry so as to increase the number of women in the family. According to Cha, Dia, and Norma Livo (2000) cases of females getting married early are still evident among this community. It is reported that girls start getting married between the age of thirteen and fifteen years and by age sixteen most females are usually married.
In conclusion, for Hmong people to flourish in America, they need to appreciate other peoples’ cultural differences and increase their social networks. This will go a long way with interrogating their spiritual beliefs more and finding a hybrid that best benefits them, and this will quencher their thirst of identity. Among the inevitable things we encounter in live is change. The society which in days gone relied on the elderly to pass knowledge and the traditions and culture to the young generations has transformed to allowing the women to get education thereby becoming bread winners of their families. Much as the Hmong people’s origin cannot be told with precision, it is interesting to learn that they still uphold their culture even when they are in the far land. They put on their ancient attires on special occasions and this among many shows that they do not want to lose their identity to the western culture.
References
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