The Hmong Lifestyle

I attended a Hmong festival at the the Hennipen Community Center in mid summer about six thirty on a pleasant evening in a gentle breeze. Many adults were standing and observing , and some of the small children were playing soccer. The purpose of the festival was organized by the Hmong community to impress upon people the beauty and love the Hmong community and culture. There were exotic colors of red, blue, orange, green, yellow patterns everywhere, and smiling Hmong people, as if to say Welcome. I was certainly impressed as well as others.

On either side of the stage were people watching interestingly. On the left of the state were a group of Caucasian senior citizens in green and white folding chairs and bottled water on the ground next to them. On the right side of the stage , on one bench were a group of sic or seven young Hmong men, or teenagers, all smiling and looking at one another and chatting little things about the performances , and enjoying themselves. I sat on a bench with my sigma 35 m with a Hmong family facing the center of the stage. The host of the show, a short thin Hmong man in beige shorts, smiling with joyful pride, welcomed us all and expressed the hope of showing the community that the Hmong people were actually loving people. The first performers were a group of near teenage girls, whose purpose was to perform a courtship dance. Each move meant something to a potential sweetheart. One move in which the girl extending their arms with a slight side bend was an invitation to the male to prove his love. I took one picture of this scene but as I found out later, the exposure wasn't good enough. The next performers was perhaps expressing the wild and trendy side of the male courtship approach using rape music. Pretty Impressive, they sounded like real rappers. Before the next performance I looked around me to see what others were during, to observe their faces. An African American woman, with a small toddler and a blanket spread on the ground, sat underneath a tree behind me. There was a pleased look upon her face as she handled the child with one arm and rested the other upon her lap. Then suddenly a group of small children came running by, all were chasing a soccer ball. A little black boy was the first of the group, flowered by a group Hmong boys and one Caucasian child.

Now back to the performances. One of the next dances involved a group of very small girls, whose purpose was to demonstrate the love the Hmong people for all people. Twirling, gliding, and great gentle moves expressed the grace of love as the little brightly blue pattered dresses blew genteelly with the wind as they moved across the stage.

Despite the negative media impressions that sometimes cast Hmong people in a negative light, the Hmong people are very nice people. The notorious Michael Vang incident in upper Wisconsin was an isolated one. Having met and befriended several Hmong people in college and at work, I am indeed qualified to know this. The Hmong people are nice people. They have a collective attitude toward life; they believe in extended family networks. Hmong people came to the United States as refugees and immigrants from a place called Laos in Southeast Asia. Many lost their homes during the Vietnam War. In the United States, as many as five or six Hmong families may live in the same house. I have lived across the street from several of these families. They prosper by helping each other prosper, one family at a time ; this family in turns help the next family until everybody prospers. This is the reason one might see six or seven cars belonging to one house. I think this collective perspective is a great thing for all families, especially extended families of thirty to forty people. If family members helped one another to prosper by help seeding each other to school and by helping one another with food and shelter until one gets upon his or her feet, this idea would be great. Even people who are less fortunate could take advantage of this collective concept. A large extending family of people making minimum wage can put their money together and do wonders for their family members. They can help educate one another , open up businesses and become a significant contributor to the community. The Hmong people has lots to teach us Americans.

In addition to Hmong people great family cohesiveness, an organization called the Hmog National Development Inc. helps to promote and strengthen the image of the Hmong community. The organization helps educates present and newly arriving families adapt , grow, and prosper in the United States of America. As with all who come to a new country with unfamiliar people, Hmong people experience culture shock and confusion. They have to get use to a culture within a culture. Many Americans have a hard time distinguishing Asian Americans from one another. Many Hmong people have been mistaking for Chinese or Japanese people. And there are many stereotypes about them. Even before I got to know Hmong people I was told that they eat cats and dogs because peoples pets came up missing whenever they were around. According to my knowledge, I can say this is an untruth. Hmong people main delicacy consist of rice and other kinds of common foods.

The Hmong people have a lots to offer to a community, most of all the sharing of good will and kindness toward neighbors, something every community needs. They are helpers of one another. And there culture, with its beautiful colors and dances, can liven up any community. Once again, I indeed enjoyed the Hmong festival and look forward to going to it again next year.