INTRODUCTION OF THESIS

The Hmong are a relatively new migrant group, very few having ever strayed from outside of Southeast Asia before the 1970's. They were part of a massive exodus of over 750,000 Laotian refugees fleeing communist rule in their home country. Migration was most concentrated from 1975 to 1980, continuing throughout the '80s and early '90s. When the Thai refugee camps closed in 1994, this halted primary migration almost completely. Today we are seeing secondary and sometimes tertiary migration mostly within resettlement countries.

The United States was by far the number destination for Hmong refugees with Australia, Canada and France close behind. Some Hmong remained in Laos or Thailand while others found long lost connections in China. A small population has resettled in French Guyana as well.

For the overwhelming majority of Hmong who resettled in developed nations, acculturation has been an uphill struggle. They have been largely unsuccessful in adjusting to the new host cultures. The main reason for this is the extraordinary set of challenges the Hmong have had to face. In Laos, they were primarily a rural, subsistence group. They had very little formal education, and virtually no transferable skills. The American economy and workplace was a concept completely foreign to them since most had engaged only in agrarian activities. They didn't even have the knowledge to perform industrial tasks.

Another challenge the Hmong faced is the strikingly different culture and language of western countries. The Hmong have had a hard time adjusting to the new host culture in part because they form their own ethnic enclaves. Some areas are so predominantly Hmong, that neighborhoods have been given Hmong names. One set of apartment complexes in Fresno, California has been named Ban Vinai after the large Thai refugee camp because so many of the residents had at one time lived in the camp. These ethnic enclaves make it possible for people to never have to speak English or interact with the mainstream American public. This is especially true in the case of older Hmong.

The culture clash of America and traditional Hmong society is also causing tensions to spout up. Hmong women are becoming more liberated and this has caused ripples between the genders. Hmong children who have been socialized in the United States often don't share the same values as their parents or grandparents. Elderly Hmong feel that they aren't respected the way they should be. This has led to tensions between the generations.

The Hmong in western nations have also seemed to find it particularly hard to break out of their cycle of dependency. The turmoil of the past 25 years transformed a self-reliant, subsistence culture into one that relies on aide from outside agencies, whether it be CIA airdrops during the war in Laos, handouts at the Thai refugee camps, or present day government welfare programs.

The Hmong in French Guyana do not seem to be suffering from the same degree of dependency, nor from the same degree of culture shock, perhaps because they have been allowed to focus on their area of expertise: agriculture. They are left in relative peace by the government and are free to practice their customs as they wish. This has no doubt, allowed them to preserve their culture more fully.

I think we will continue to see the Hmong culture transform itself, especially in communities in the United States. Conflicts between the genders and generations will probably become even more tense as more women are educated and children adapt more quickly to American culture.

Diasporic connections exist between worldwide Hmong communities, but the connections don't seem very strong. This is probably because of the community's lack of cultural and material capital. Slowly, the connections that do exist seem to be strengthening, in part because the Hmong are becoming more educated and are more aware of technologies such as the Internet.

CULTURAL FACTS

The Hmong are a Southeast Asian group of semi-nomadic hill people. Traditionally, they lived in small rural villages of about 10-20 houses. These houses were temporary bamboo structures with dirt floors. They had simple furniture such as woven mats for sleeping, which made frequent moving an easier task.

Due to their rural setting, the Hmong were an agrarian society. Their chief crops were corn, rice and opium, which was used for medicinal purposes and trading. They saw the land as an exploitable resource and practiced a form of slash and burn agriculture. Land was cleared, worked to exhaustion and then abandoned as soon as yields began to fall. Families also moved if they were suffering from bad luck or disease. House sites were thought to be unlucky and invaded by spirits and ghosts if the family experienced some kind of tragedy or turmoil. (Donnelly, pg 22).

Traditional Hmong thought is animistic: they believe in spirits that are separate but coexist with the physical body. Spirits are in everything from the house they live in to the trees outside. This is why there is no holiday as important to the Hmong as the New Year. The New Year Celebration renews protection of the household and ancestral spirits. (Chan).

Hmong families are structured around 18 clans and typically employ very specific gender roles. The society is patrilineal and women are usually expected to be subordinate to their husbands, fathers or brothers. In Laos, polygamy, wife beating, and bride kidnaping were not uncommon.

There was also a sexual division of labor. Women were responsible for the household work and child rearing, while the men worked in the fields, clearing land and harvesting food for the family. Women also worked in the fields, but after giving birth, a man typically took a second wife and left one at home to tend the children and expected the other to help with the farming tasks. (Donnelly, pg. 22,168).

Both men and women marry very young, usually while still in their mid-teens. Marriage is very important in Hmong society. Hmong are not considered adults until they are married with children. After marriage, a couple resides with the man's family, although the woman is usually able to maintain loose ties with their own families. If a couple is experiencing marital strife, they often seek the counsel of elders and are expected to follow whatever advice the elder gives. Divorce was virtually unheard of in traditional society.

EARLY HISTORY

The Hmong's actual place of origin is Southwest China. There they lived in relative harmony, having only to pay tributes to the Chinese government which otherwise left them alone. This all changed when the Qing dynasty came to power in 1644. The government became must more stringent with Hmong and this led to a rebellion. The Qing dynasty soon began persecuting the Hmong and this caused a massive Hmong migration in the early 1800's. Laos was one of the primary destinations as the Hmong fled Chinese oppression.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT LAOS

Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is roughly the size of Utah and is bordered by five countries: Thailand, Burma (present-day Myanmar) China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Thailand is the only easily accessible country. Mountains block off Vietnam, China and Burma. The Mekong River is impassable on the Cambodian border. These geographical barriers played a large role in Hmong resettlement within the past 25 years.

The population of Laos today is 4.7 million people, most of whom are rural. The Hmong lived in the northern provinces of Xieng Khoung and Luang Prabang.

There are more than 60 different ethnic groups in Laos. These groups are divided into three main classifications. The Lao Loum are lowlanders, the Lao Theung are mountain slope dwellers, and the Lao Soung, of which the Hmong are part of, live on the mountain tops.

Laotian identity is based on the Lao Loum (lowlanders) culture. They were the dominant ethnic group and considered themselves elite compared to the other groups. They slurred the Lao Theung by calling them "kha" which means slave. They labeled the Hmong "meo" meaning savage. (Chan).

During the 1960's and '70's, Laos was ripped apart by war. 750,000 people were displaced during a battle against communism. Both the Soviet Union and the United States became involved and Laos was turned into a pawn in a much greater external struggle.

HEAVY DUTY POLITICSDuring the 1800's, Laos was repeatedly invaded by several countries, including Vietnam, Siam and Burma. When the French arrived in the late 1800's, they began exploring Laos in order to find a waterway to China. At this time, the Siamese were trying to consolidate their Laos holdings. Not wanting to fall under Siamese control, the Laotian rulers were willing to go under the protection of the French. France soon declared Laos to be one of its five Asian colonies.

Laos was considered to be the least important French colony due to its lack of exploitable resources. As the backdoor neighbor to China, the French valued Laos' geographical location, but when they discovered there was no waterway leading to China, Laos became even less important. As a result, the French did not send many official to govern the colony. They relied on already existing political structures and allowed the Laotian ruler to remain in power, albeit as only a puppet of the French. Village chiefs retained their power as well and acted as intermediaries between the people and the French.

Because Laos was so unimportant, the French did very little development within the colony. They built no railroads, very few roads, and in the sixty years they were there, they established not one high school. They did, however, impose strict tax laws on the colony in order to make it pay for itself. They instituted a head tax for all males 18-60 years of age as well as a tax on opium, salt, and alcohol. On top of this, each male was required to perform 15 days of unpaid work per year - virtually slave labor. The government also created a monopoly on the opium trade.

These economic sanctions hit most Laotians hard. The Laotian economy was based on subsistence and bartering. They could not meet these demands and financial hardship struck the colony near and far. This economic deprivation led to a series of rebellions in the early 1900's.

The Hmong staged a rebellion in 1919-1921. Although the rebellion was eventually squashed, it motivated the French to loosen their control somewhat. They saw the military prowess of the Hmong warriors and decided to set up an autonomous Hmong district to avoid further trouble with the group.

Four main Hmong clans lived in this district and they often bickered over who should have the lucrative district chief position. One man who was overlooked became incensed with the situation. He and his followers formed a resistance league and then joined the forging communist party, the Pathet Lao (PL).

The PL aligned themselves with the Vietnamese and fought for freedom from France. They were the only group in Laos that actively engaged in the struggle for independence. 60% of their force were ethnic minorities, mostly coming from the Lao Theung (mountain slope dwellers). There were also a small number of Hmong who joined the communists as well. The French decided to grant full independence to Laos in October 1953.

By this time, the Cold War was really starting to heat up. America footed 80% of the French war costs. President Dwight Eisenhower had a strong interest in the Southeast Asian situation. He was a firm believer in the domino effect of communism. If one country in a region was to fall to communism, the rest were sure to follow. He employed a containment policy and kept a close eye on events in and around Laos.

After independence, a neutral government was formed in Laos. The American CIA was right in the thick of things. They began training the Royal Laos Army (RLA) and paid the salaries of all the troops and officers. The PL was still very active at this time and caused a lot of instability. The country was soon thrown into a state of civil war.

The Laotian civil war is often called the "Secret War" in the United States because not even the American Congress knew about it until 1969. How and why was the American involvement able to be kept under wraps? According to the 1962 Geneva protocol, Laos was considered a neutral country, but both communists and Americans violated this. Therefore the United States could not make their involvement known. They kept the situation quiet by not allowing reporters to interview fighter pilots who flew on missions to Laos. People in the U.S. were also fixated on Vietnam at this time and so Laos was often just overlooked.

The Secret War was fought on four main fronts: the RLA fought the communists near major towns, the Hmong guerillas fought against the PL in northeastern Laos, American B-52s bombed north Laos in coordination with Hmong ground attacks. They also bombed all along the Ho Chi Minh Trail which runs along the Laos-Vietnam southern border. They did this to stop the Vietnamese lifeline supply routes.

The Hmong became a very crucial part of the war. In 1960, the CIA first began recruiting the Hmong into a mercenary army. They were soon very impressed with the Hmong soldiering skills. Vang Pao was made a general of the forces. He consulted Hmong clan leaders. The CIA promised that they would help the Hmong. Some claim that the CIA promised to set up an autonomous Hmong kingdom.

Under President John F. Kennedy, the Hmong army was strengthened. By 1969, it had reached over 40,000 men. They were really the only effective indigenous fighting force, but they ended up paying dearly for it. Approximately 17,000 Hmong troops died, and an additional 50,000 Hmong civilians died during the conflict.

As the PL captured more and more land, the Hmong were forced to evacuate their villages and flee to refugee camps on the mountain tops. Wives and the elderly were constantly on the run from the approaching communists. Farming was impossible because they could never stay in one place long enough to produce a crop. They ate tree bark, leaves, and wild fruit to stay alive. Many of them didn't. The U.S. airdropped supplies, and the Hmong soon became dependant on this aide. (Chan).

The end of the war was drawing near. In 1973, the Americans pulled out and stopped helping Hmong forces with air support. Peace was declared within months and a coalition government was set up. Meanwhile, the Hmong and PL were still fighting in the hills.

In 1975, the coalition government was dissolved and the communists took complete control. The Hmong did not want to leave their country, but this turn of political events gave them no choice. They had to flee communist persecution. The communists quickly began putting captured Hmong into "reeducation camps." Many Hmong fled as the communists cracked down. About 40,000 Hmong journeyed to Thailand by foot seeking refuge. Others fled to the jungles and resisted the communist Laotian government. In response, the government sent troops and air raids into Hmong territory and burned Hmong settlements, sometimes even committing mass executions. They also dropped biological and chemical poisons on them. Yellow poison, which the Hmong called "Yellow Rain" fell from the communist planes causing people to vomit and eventually die from severe dehydration. They also allegedly dropped black poison which suffocated people. It coated the soil, plants and streams and poisoned people through their food as well. Many believe that these chemicals were provided by the Soviet Union. (Lee).

REFUGEE CAMPS IN THAILAND

People fled to Thailand to escape deplorable conditions in Laos. The new government was arresting former government officials and anyone else suspected of being disloyal. They had also initiated a military offensive against resistance groups. A heavy rice tax led to severe economic deprivation as well.

In 1975, the first wave of Hmong numbering about 25,000, entered Thailand. By the end of 1979, about 60,000 Hmong had entered the country. Estimates say that 3,000 people were coming per month. The refugees were put in camps and waited for a third country to offer them resettlement. The wait was often years.

Most refugees went from Laos to Thailand, from Thailand to a third country, usually the U.S. or Australia. By 1990, 90,000 Hmong were in the U.S., 6,000 were in France, 3,000 were in Canada, Australia, Argentina, and French Guyana. (Lee).

By far the largest Thai refugee camp was Ban Vinai. At its peak, this camp help 42,000 people. 80% of the Hmong in Thailand stayed at this camp.

Camp life was quite different from the typical village life the Hmong were used to back in Laos. The camp consisted of barrack-like buildings, with one family per room. Residents were dependent on camp officials for food and water. Laws prohibited them from working for money. The only way they could buy supplemental food was with money sent from relatives already resettled in other countries. People were often hungry, and this unfortunately led to a lot of stealing and intimidation. (Miyares).

Some residents tried to go back to their agrarian roots. They cultivated small plots of land and traded their food in Thai markets or with other refugees.

The massive exodus of Laotian refugees into Thailand didn't please the Thai government. They began deterring further immigration by tightening their definition of the term "refugee," keeping refugees in closed camps for a longer period of time so those still coming wouldn't be as eager to come. Some Laotians also claim that Thai officials also began forcing people back into Laos. (Lee).

EXPERIENCES IN THE USThe United States has been the number one resettlement country for the Hmong. The Immigration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, 1980 employed a scatter approach to resettlement. This way, no one region would be overburdened by an injection of new immigrants. Immigrant families had very little choice on what city they would be sent to. They were therefore "scattered" across the United States, most times going to a community where a church or American family would sponsor them.

Most Hmong have struggled with culture shock upon entering the United States. They found it hard to relate to Americans. They also complained of discrimination and brutal weather in the northern enclaves of Wisconsin and Minnesota. (Inui).

Once settled, Hmong clan leaders designated a set of cities to which the Hmong secondarily migrated. Fresno, California and St. Paul, Minnesota were the two concentrated cities. Today there are 60,000 Hmong in Minnesota. This makes them the largest urban Hmong population in the world. Hmong from around the United States began coming to Minnesota for a variety of reasons. Some had family already settled in the twin Cities. There are a lot of local resources such as less strict welfare laws, and good employment opportunities. Often times, the cultural climate in Minnesota is less hostile than what some families had experienced in their original resettlement city. The Hmong began clustering in certain neighborhoods of certain cities and in this way, they inhibited the acculturation process by forming their own ethnic enclaves.

One disturbing trend that appears common in Hmong communities is a dependency. Unemployment is rampant in the Hmong community and many families rely on government assistance. In 1989, the average Hmong family income was $12,016. In San Diego in the early 1980's, 3/4 of the Hmong were enrolled in some form of welfare or federal refugee aid. This is quite a change from the self-sufficient Hmong community in Laos during the pre-war days. Years of depending on American food airdrops during the war, and then later on handouts in the Thai refugee camps created a cycle of dependency which has manifested itself in most western resettlement countries like the United States.

Within the Hmong enclaves in the United States, families mimic their original culture in several ways. Like in Laos, Hmong community life takes place outdoors. In predominantly Hmong apartment complexes, families meet each other in the courtyards to eat. They share food and basic necessities with extended family members as well. Small window boxes outside of the apartments which are usually filled with flowers, are tended by the Hmong as small gardens. They plants beans, corn stalks and pepper in these boxes for their own consumption. Inside the households, traces of their semi-nomadic roots were present. In older households, only items used everyday were unpacked. Families slept on bamboo mats. Tables and chairs were taken out for use and then folded and put away. Boxes were in the living rooms and still had yet to be unpacked, as if the family was ready for another move. (Miyares).

Despite the tight communities the Hmong have created, their culture has indeed been altered by life in America. They have had to make small changes in their New Year's patterns. Because it is a holiday of such importance, the Hmong adapted their calendar so that their New Year would coincide with American holidays (Thanksgiving weekend in the north, Christmas in California). Families use this time to travel and arrange marriages. The Hmong have also had to do away with rituals like animal butchering.

TENSIONS

Life in the United States has also caused friction among age groups as well as the sexes. The changing role of women has been especially significant. Women were very subordinate in traditional Hmong homes. Bride kidnaping, polygamy and wife beatings were not all that uncommon in Laos, but these are all illegal practices in the United States. Girls are being educated, and more and more are going on to college. This causes marriage to be delayed. Educated Hmong women are putting off marriage until they are done with their studies even though by age 20 they are often considered spinsters and risk being overlooked by bachelors. (Inui).

This is where the Internet comes into play. More and more Hmong couples are meeting over email and chat rooms, getting to know each other online, then meeting face to face during New Year when a marriage is arranged.

With education and pressure from American society, the role of Hmong women is changing and this in turn is causing Hmong families to evolve. This shift in power has been hard for some Hmong men to adapt to. They feel that they are losing their basis of command.

The adjustment has been hard for elders as well. In traditional Hmong society, when a couple was having marital problems, they consulted family elders. Divorce or separation was not an option. The family had to stay together at all costs, even if the wife was facing physical or emotional abuse. But in American society, shelters and women's groups are intervening in abusive marriages. They tell the women to leave and this conflicts with the voice of the elders causing even more tension. (Donnelly, p 169-170).

So the changing role of women also perpetuates the already present generation tensions. Older Hmong men seem to be having the most difficult time. Upon arriving in the country the majority of these men didn't possess industrial labor skills. They are unable to support their families as they did in Laos. In fact, they are now dependent on others. Most elderly Hmong men can't speak English, are dependent on others to drive them places and are not sought after for their advice anymore. They are simply not honored in American culture the way they are in Hmong culture. Language is perhaps their biggest obstacle. Most elderly Hmong never had formal education. That makes it difficult to learn a foreign language like English. As a result, they are isolated and uninformed. All of this has led to wide spread depression among Hmong men. (Miyares).

A fear that the elderly Hmong community is facing right now is a worry about the Y2K bug. "Older Hmong immigrants, those with little or no tradition of a written language and beyond the reach of the mainstream U.S. media, have picked up only snatches of the Y2K discussion. The frightening parts, mostly. Some are fearful enough that they reportedly have left the country." (Shefchik).

The Hmong community is trying to reach out to those that are marginalized by the language barrier. There is a Hmong-language radio show three afternoons a week in the Twin Cities that is attempting to put to rest the Hmong's fears about the Y2K.

This language and education gap has made it difficult for younger generations to relate to the older generation. School aged children find themselves operating in two different spheres. They can sense that one sphere is inferior. What a teacher expects may be different than what a parent expects. They don't value the same things their parents or grandparents do. Agriculture had always been the staple practice of Hmong households, but very few young people have the same interest in gardening that older generations do.

EXPERIENCE IN FRENCH GUYANA

French Guyana is a small department of France, located in South America next to Suriname and Brazil. Its about the size of Indiana and has a population of 150,000. This little known developing country seems an unlikely site for resettlement, but by 1995, there were about 1,600 Hmong refugees living in French Guyana. At this time, they constituted 1% of the total population.

The Hmong started to arrive in French Guyana in 1977. A customs inspector who had done work in Laos was aware of the group's situation. Like others involved in resettling the Hmong, he recognized that the group would face extraordinary challenges in developed nations since they had little education and were isolated from urban technology. He believed they would have an easier time adapting to life in French Guyana, a country similar in climate and landscape to their own Laos. (Yang).

Most of the first Hmong settlers came directly from Thai refugee camps, but a growing number were immigrants from France. They founded two large villages and virtually the entire community engaged in some form of agriculture.

The small concentrated Hmong population is responsible for 70% of French Guyana's agricultural products. They are largely self-sufficient, but do rely on missionary aid to some degree. Families are large; about 6 kids, and households often include parents, children, and grandparents all under one roof. Local authorities rarely intervene in Hmong practices. They are allowed to follow their traditions freely.

Not everything is tranquil in French Guyana for the Hmong. Many young people report feeling restless. They are exposed to French culture through school and the media and they aren't interested in farming and the rural way of life. Unfortunately, there are few non-farming opportunities in French Guyana. (Yang)

Some racial tensions have been noted as well. In fact, it is unlikely that more Hmong will be allowed to immigrate because the non-Hmong community opposes this idea.

The Hmong in French Guyana maintain Diasporic contacts to some degree. Some have visited France or the United States, but they prefer life in French Guyana. They complain that in the U.S. Hmong families live far apart and everyone is always indoors. They've also heard about Hmong youth joining gangs in the U.S. (Yang).EXPERIENCES IN TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA

Tasmania is the southern island state of Australia. It claims the highest proportion of refugees in the country because of cheap quality housing and employment opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Several refugee groups in Tasmania (Vietnamese and Chilean to name two) have had unsuccessful settlement experiences in Tasmania. Most groups fail to secure a strong community base and this is what often leads to secondary migration.

Unlike these other immigrant groups, the Hmong in Tasmania have had positive settlement experiences. There are five cohesive clans in the area, which seem to have built a stable community base. There is also cheap land available in Tasmania and many families have taken advantage of this and turned to farming. In 1995, there were 400 Hmong in Tasmania, all of them living in the capital city, Hobart (population 150,000).

Hmong men engage in politico-cultural activities for the community. They recently set up a mock Hmong village for tourists and this has generated some income. Women usually do paid unskilled labor. They sell produce and embroidery crafts in the famous Tasmanian market. These income generating schemes were so fruitful that Hmong families often sent surplus money to Thailand refugee camps. (Julian).OTHER DIASPORA CONNECTIONS

The Hmong don't seem to have as strong of Diasporic connections as other immigrant groups, but they maintain their ties in a variety of ways. Families in different countries communicate with each other. If they are financially able, they visit each other and send aid to family members who are struggling.

The New Year's celebrations bring Hmong from all over the world together. New connections are made this way.

Also, as more Hmong become educated, communication tools such as the Internet make it easier to create and maintain connections. Pages such as Hmong Online create an online community where people from around the world can engage in conversation. As stated before, more and more marriages and relationships are being cultivated over email.

There are also resistance groups that try to maintain connections in order to finance their objectives. There is one group in France which was formed in 1978 and calls itself the Lao government in exile. A larger, and more famous resistance group is the United Lao National Liberation Front. This is an organization started in 1981 by Hmong generals. They stir up trouble against the communist Laotian government. In 1989, their guerilla activity became increasingly noticeable. They claim they were inspired by the fall of communism at that time. Most of the funding for this group comes from Hmong in the United States. Both the Washington Post and New York Times ran stories about how Hmong in the United States were being coerced by this group into making monthly payments to support their activities. They were also told that they could buy positions in a future government should it be formed.

Many Hmong do not wish to repatriate back to Laos. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees stated in 1996, that Laos is committed to welcoming back its citizens. Some Hmong have voluntarily returned to Laos with the help of the UNHCR. Most wish to remain in their new countries. They say the complicated political situation, poor economic standing and primitive life style in Laos is unappealing to them.

Indeed for families who have repatriated, many begin to regret their decisions, especially the children of the family. "We received many stories from back home that the kids are in terrible shape," said Hmong radio show host Yang Chan Vang. "The kids are crying. They want to go back to the States." (Shefchik).

CONCLUSION

So what is the direction for the Hmong in the future? It doesn't seem as though repatriation is a viable option. I believe that the Hmong culture in the United States is in the process of undergoing a massive change. The cultures are simply too different, and in order for the Hmong to survive and be successful, they have had to learn new skills and disregard for the most part their agricultural roots.

This has not been the case in French Guyana, a country where the Hmong have been able to hold onto their preference for a rural life. Tensions exist in the French Guyana enclave, but it doesn't seem to be as severe as the scenario facing Hmong in the U.S. The Tasmanian Hmong experience seems to lie somewhere in the middle. Hmong are able to practice agriculture and have been able to form a community base in a place where other groups have failed.

The younger generation of Hmong have achieved much higher education levels than their parents or grandparents. This has caused friction between the generations as well as between the sexes. I predict that these tensions will continue to escalate and will not resolve themselves any time soon. This is a revolutionary change that the culture is undergoing.

Today connections within the transnational diaspora are fairly weak. But again, education and easier access to technology would seem to strengthen connections. The Internet will be a primary source of communication and as mentioned before, has already served as a catalyst for several marriages between Hmong communities.

It's been barely 20 years since the first group of Hmong refugees left Laos. The culture is still trying to figure out exactly what its place is in this new place they call home.