The Hmong people are well known for their survival antics from their silent war with China and their migration from the Vietnam War. Hmong is a term many have never even heard of but their culture it is known as "free people." Hmong textiles has survived just like their whole culture. The attractive handcrafted designs have been in their history for over two centuries, and their embroideries are popular among the Asian countries as well as the United States. Hmong textiles includes a variety of embroideries on their Flower cloths, story cloths, and their New Year dress. All fabrics have powerful importance in their customs to bring prosperity and good fortunes. Needlework is a substantial skill in their community that can not be forgotten, symbolizing work ethics and preservation of their culture. Hmong textiles are designed with a variety of geometric shapes and patterns. Shapes are regularly added to their dresses, headdresses, and flower cloths. During the Hmong New Year, men and women wear a traditional dress with a turban wrap or a rooster hat. The dress has a very conservative style; covering majority of the body of the man or woman. It is designed by adding embroideries and appliqués. The headdress is also a main part of the dress. Turban wrap is used as a rounded covering for the head, conversely the rooster hat is highly decorated and resembling the comb of a rooster. The flower cloth, or the Hmong word "Paj Ntaub", has been in the Hmong history for over two centuries. Flower cloths are embroideries contain mainly geometric designs and bright yarns. Hmong textiles are often embellished with bright yarns and are usually know as "story cloths." They were weaved to narrate different series of events: the villa... ... middle of paper ... ...anges are not accepted by all the communities. People of Hmong background higly believe by changing, you are also forgetting your line of ancestors. For example, the Rooster hat is not widely accepted because it is new and is nothing like the silk turban wrap. The rooster hat hides the flaws of certain woman and some men do not find any beauty in it. Since the Hmong have endured and survived as a culture, they believe in preservation of the entire traditions. Embroideries and methods have not changed much but the use of fabric has updated. Flower cloth has evolved to story cloths relating to all their past historic events. Although the Hmong have adjusted with certain changes, their preservation of their skillful handcraft has not. It is an important value, tradition, and ritual to their culture that has continued to exist even through American society.
In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, author Anne Fadiman explores the complexity of a cultural clash through communication and interaction between the Hmong minority and biomedical culture in the United States. In broad terms, her book classifies as a modern-day case of cultural anthropology that depicts the complications of unprepared cross-cultural communication and lack of assimilation. Fadiman documented the saga of the Lees, a Hmong family who immigrated to Merced, California after nation-wide problems in their homeland of Laos and China (Fadiman 5). Their story exemplifies the struggle with biomedicine in the United States by detailing the story of the Lee’s severely epileptic daughter Lia and reflecting on the factors and outcomes of her life and death.
In conclusion the Kwakiutl tribe is steadfast in tradition and culture. The works of the Kwakiutl artists and the leaders of the religious ceremonies are most certainly working hand in hand carrying on traditions past on from earlier generations. The Kwakiutl artisans have mastered the art of making ceremonial masks and these masks will continue to play an intricate role in the lives and living of the villagers for years to come.
One of the most important aspects of Hmong culture is the group and family dynamic. The Hmong considered farming their most important duty because it was a major source of income when they were in Laos. The story regarding the Hmong family who attempted to grow vegetables inside their second story apartment was an example of this (Fadiman, 1997, p. 226). The Hmong found the transition difficult since the thing they knew best, farming, was taken away from them. Thus, they were forced to fit into roles that were foreign to them.
How would it feel to flee from post-war Communist forces, only to face an ethnocentric population of people in a new country? In Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, a portrait of a disquieting, often times touching, ethnography (i.e. a book that details particular data of an extended period of time an anthropologist spent living closely with a community of individuals during his or her field work) of Fadiman's experience living in Merced, California, which was home to the largest population of Hmong refugees, such as the Lee family, from Laos who suffered mass confusion when trying to navigate the American health care system. Because the Hmong could not speak sufficient English until the children gained language skills native to the United States, residents of California were not accepting of the Hmong community. Fadiman aims to better understand how knowledge of illness among Hmong and Western medical practitioners differ, which pushes the reader to understand how the complicate medical treatment in the past as well as the present from a perspective of an American observing a Hmong family's struggle with the system. In America, it isn’t uncommon to be judged for your clothing, your house, or the amount of money your family makes, so it is easy to believe that the Hmong people were not easily accepted into American society. As a whole, ethnocentrism, or the tendency to believe that one's culture is superior to another, is one of America's weaknesses and this account proves ethnocentric behavior was prominent even in the 1970-80's when Fadiman was in the process of doing her fieldwork in post-Vietnam War Era California.
The first thing we discussed in our presentation was Hmong culture and family. This particular main point was the longest covered because it was so much information on Hmong culture. We covered how Hmong culture is a clan based and very family oriented. The Hmong
The Hmong culture is firmly rooted in their spiritual belief of animism, ancestral worship and reincarnation. These beliefs connect them to their sense of health and well-being. They view illness as having either a natural or a spiritual cause. A spiritual cause results in a “loss of souls” or is an action or misdeed that may have offended an ancestor’s spirit (California Department of Health Services, 2004, Purnell, 2013, p. 317). The soul escapes the body and may not be able to find its way back home. The Hmong also believe that a combination of natural and supernatural cause’s results in illness, and spells or curses, violation of taboos, accidents, fright, and infectious disease are other causes for illness (Centers for Disease Control
Initially, when the refugees and their children first arrived in America, primarily California but also Minnesota and Wisconsin, the American educational system identified Hmong children as LEP and placed them in English as a Second Language classes. Very few schools offered academic programs to integrate Hmong students into the society of the school and those that do, have not had any flourishing success. Due to the resulting segregation, both socially and academically, the teaching methodology for these students suffered; become haphazard and improvised. During the initial years of integration, there were very few Hmong bilingual teachers. Hmong students were placed in classes based on an expectation that they would not go on to a higher education and that their ma...
Just like the durian, my Vietnamese culture repulsed me as a young child. I always felt that there was something shameful in being Vietnamese. Consequently, I did not allow myself to accept the beauty of my culture. I instead looked up to Americans. I wanted to be American. My feelings, however, changed when I entered high school. There, I met Vietnamese students who had extraordinary pride in their heritage. Observing them at a distance, I re-evaluated my opinions. I opened my life to Vietnamese culture and happily discovered myself embracing it. `
Tradition is defined in the dictionary as the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs and beliefs. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I believe has two main topics addressed: the traditions of the Hmong people, and the dangers of being unable to communicate. The misunderstanding of these two consequential points, I believe caused the majority of conflict that arose.
Perhaps if I had the chance to observe these crafts in person and truly get a feel of their character I would have a better understanding of their nationalistic expression. As it is what has been translated and written in western academia is all that I, as an outsider looking in, can observe. It can be argued that Japan may have lost much of its cultural tradition if not for the American taste for it. On the other hand if not for the change in lifestyle due to America’s occupation, Japanese crafts might not have needed to change so drastically to suit modern life. There is no way of saying for certain ether way. It is my belief, that Japanese handicrafts have expressed nationalistic pride throughout its history, but it is after the introduction of western influences and concepts that the country has found a need to preserve and protect it. The Mingei movement most eminently expresses the Japanese Spirit and it is important to continue to apply its basic principles to
Most of the Hmong populations in America now reside in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. They have now adapted to a society and culture that looked down upon them. Even though they have adapted, they still possess the traditions and rituals that their ancestors practiced in Southeast Asia. These traditions are held very sacred in the Hmong home. This is understood because every culture likes to keep a little piece of the past with them.
The Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam and Laos, greatly value their culture and traditions. The film “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America” documents the seventeen year journey of the Hmong Shaman, Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America. This film shows the struggle of Paja Thao to maintain their 5000 year-old shamanic traditions as his children embrace the American culture. Moreover, the film shows that one of the major problems refugees like Paja Thao and his family face upon their arrival to the United States is conflict with the American medical system. Despite the dominant biomedical model of health, the film “The Split Horn” shows that
One of the things I found was The clothes worn by the men included loincloths or short kilts which were made from a long rectangular piece of animal skin or cloth which was worn between the legs and tucked over a belt. The men started to wear cotton shirts and shorts, and a headband They wore moccasins made of soft leather. The type of clothes worn by the women of the Hopi tribe were cotton dresses called mantas which were fastened at a woman's right shoulder, leaving her left shoulder bare. Early women’s clothes included a dark blue woollen blanket that was fastened above the right shoulder and tied with a belt at the waist. When Hopi girls reach womanhood, their hair was dressed in two large whorls at the side of the head in a squash blossom.
“By 2050, it is [predicted] that half of the world will be more or less proficient in [English].” (Gerdes 37). Being an Asian-American, specifically Hmong in the United States, there has been a rise in the usage of English rather than our native language Hmong among the new generation; those who were born in the United States. Many are not fluent in Hmong, without keeping the language, elders are unable to pass down their knowledge of the Hmong culture to their children.
Weaving is a common thread among cultures around the world. Weaving is a way of producing cloth or textile. Today we have machines that weave large-scale textiles at cheap prices. Production of cloth by hand is rarely engaged in today’s Westernized societies. Not many people are thinking about how the fibers are actually constructed to make their clothes. However, in other cultures across the world the tradition of weaving still exists. By comparing three cultures that continue weaving as a part of their tradition we can see similarities and the differences between them. The reasons that each culture still weaves vary, as do the methods and materials. The desired characteristics of the cloth also vary around the world as each culture values different aesthetics.