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Tag: Hmong

Unit 3: Healing and Future Building – Hmong Healing and Future Building

Time Frame

  • 2 class periods 

 

Materials

  • Green Card Entrepreneur Voices – Steve Thao’s video

  • Three-Panel Paj Ntaub handout

 

Connections to the 7 Cs of Ethnic Studies

  • Cultivate: using traditional Hmong arts as an opportunity for identity affirmation and healing

  • Conceptualize: using Hmong arts as a tool for visioning, futurisms, world-building, hope, healing, and collective possibilities

 

Instructions

 

Important: Please give the class a general trauma warning and create a safe space for the class before beginning the lesson. Today’s class will explore how people use art and music to process hard times and heal. Some of our topics will touch on war, leaving home, and intergenerational trauma, the stress or sadness that families carry across generations, and may trigger certain feelings. Please remind students to be respectful of one another, provide space as needed, and allow students to skip or pass on discussions as needed. Also, remind students to reach out to their mental health providers and tell them these topics were brought up and discussed in class, and made students feel a certain way. Use your best professional judgment to warn the class. 

 

Ignite: Sound Challenge

  • Play a short sound clip of either the qeej or the raj without showing the instrument (instrument slide).

  • Ask the class: If this sound were a person talking, what emotions might they be feeling?

    • Sentence Starter: The sound feels . . .

  • Show an image of the instrument. Explain to the class what this instrument is. 

 

Turn and Talk

What song do you listen to when you are sad or down? Why does music work better than just talking to a friend?

 

Chunk: Hmong Musical Instruments

  • Neng Thao explains the instruments and their connections to the Hmong language, along with how music is an extension of the language and is often used for courting. 

  • Explain how the instruments mimic the tones of words when they are played. The sounds are like singing a message to express one’s feelings, singing to a friend, or singing to one’s ancestors. Have students try to hum the tone of their own name. 

  • Clearly explain to students how music allows for expression, especially feelings. Traditionally, it is a cultural taboo to openly talk and share feelings and emotions, especially while courting. Music allows individuals to express their feelings of love, happiness, or sadness to one another. 

 

Turn and Talk

Think about a song you put on when you are down. Why does hearing this song feel safer or more comforting than talking with a friend?

  • Sentence Starter: When I am overwhelmed, I like to listen to . . .

 

Chunk: Steve Thao 

Watch the “Steve Thao” video from Green Card Entrepreneur Voices.

 

Group Task

  • Watch: Watch the video together.

  • Discuss: How did art help Hmong to express their feelings? How can art help Hmong understand their family’s history? How can art help Hmong heal from their past?

  • Analyze: Thao said, “Art is a way for us to tell our own stories, rather than having others tell them for us.” What does he mean by this? How can you use art to tell your story?

    • How do you express your feelings?

    • How can you use art to express your feelings?

 

Chew: Paj Ntaub Artwork 

Introduce traditional Hmong paj ntaub, which is often used to tell stories, especially through story cloths. Share how story cloths started in the refugee camps as a way for Hmong to use their talent to make money. They would make cloth by hand and create story cloths of their journey, history, and experiences. Show examples of story cloths and point out specific symbols and what they represent. (See Flowery Cloth link below.)

 

Mini-Story Cloth Assignment

Create a three-panel story cloth template.

 

  • Template design: three squares side by side by side, with a border consisting of Hmong symbols (mountains and/or snails)

    • Students will draw in each square.

      • Square 1: Draw an image of a challenge you faced.

      • Square 2: Draw something that helped you to feel better or heal (family, music, art, etc.).

      • Square 3: Draw your future hopes for yourself.

 

  • Students will also write three sentences about their images, one for each square.

    • My art shows _________.

    • It helps me feel ______ because _____.

    • __________ gives me hope for the future.

 

Review: 3-2-1 Exit Ticket

On a slip of paper (regular notebook paper or sticky notes) or a digital form, students must write and turn in:

  • Three things they learned today

  • Two symbols that can be found on a Hmong story cloth

  • One way art can help heal

Multilingual and ELL Support

  • Provide a sentence stem for reflection:

    • Art can serve to help with . . .

    • Art can help heal . . .

    • Art allows me to understand…

    • I express myself by . . .

    • When I feel _______, I listen to . . .

 

Vocabulary and Definitions

  • Paj ntaub: traditional Hmong art that is made by a needle stitching onto a fabric cloth

  • Art: something you make using imagination to share ideas and feelings, to make something beautiful, or to show and tell how you see the world  

  • Healing: the process of getting better, stronger, or whole again after you have been hurt, in either your body or feelings

  • Hope: the belief that something good can happen

  • Symbol: a picture that stands for a big idea

 

Resource List 

Unit 2: Resilience and Resistance – Hmong Resilience and Resistance

Time Frame

  • 1–2 class periods

 

Materials

  • Hmong Politicians Profile Assignment worksheet
  • Green Card Entrepreneur Voices – Bo Thao-Urabe’s story
  • Hmong Town Marketplace and Hmong Village images 

Connections to the 7 Cs of Ethnic Studies

  • Celebrate: using Hmong counter-stories and community narratives through storytelling
  • Challenge: understanding how Hmong individuals and organizations contribute toward action, organizing, advocating, and healing in their local communities

 

Instructions

 

Ignite: Qualities for Success

  • Display on the board an image of either Hmong Village or Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • As students are looking at the visual, share with them: 
  • Hmong immigrants arrived in the US with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and simple pots and pans. Look at the bustling marketplace on the screen, and think of what qualities are needed for survival and success. 

 

Turn and Talk

Ask students to brainstorm with an elbow partner what three qualities (bravery, hard work, etc.) they would need to survive and eventually open a store like the image on the screen, if they had to move to a new country with no knowledge of the language and no money.

  • Ask a few students to share out loud with the class.

 

Chunk: Resilience

Acknowledgement: This was the shared journey for many Hmong Americans. There are other Hmong narratives that may contrast this one, such as Hmong Chinese, Hmong Laos, Hmong Vietnam, and other groups with their own different experiences. Some may have fought along with the communists or with the Pathet Lao for their own survival or by choice. Similarly, not all Hmong followed the refugee journey or chose to migrate to the United States, as many chose to remain in Laos and Thailand, and some even migrated to different countries throughout the world. This lesson will focus mainly on the shared experience of Hmong Americans. 

 

Explain that the Hmong were an ethnic minority group from China. Throughout history, the Chinese and Hmong fought many wars against each other over land and resources. Eventually, Hmong fled China into Southeast Asia. In Laos, the CIA recruited the Hmong to help fight against communism and the Pathet Lao during the Secret War. They were recruited due to the Hmong being familiar with the land; many joined out of necessity to survive during wartime. When the US withdrew from the Vietnam War, they also abandoned the Hmong in Laos. The Hmong faced persecution and genocide by the Pathet Lao and had to fend for themselves in the jungles of Laos. 

 

The journey to get across the Mekong River to Thailand was in itself a journey of resilience. The Hmong had to hide in the jungle, forage for food, travel in groups, and often move under the cover of the night sky to evade the Pathet Lao. Along the way, some had to abandon personal belongings, some had to leave behind family members, some elders had to be carried, some crying babies were drugged with opium to keep them silent when the enemy was nearby, and some babies did not make it. It was their mental and physical resilience that helped them to reach the river and to cross it into Thailand to gain their freedom. (Background Information)

  • Resilience is the ability to get through an incredibly hard time and keep going. 
  • Quick Check-In: What is one example of how the Hmong showed resilience?
    • The Hmong had to hide, travel at night, and look out for each other in the jungle to reach safety across the Mekong River. 

Chunk: Resistance and Power

Transition from history to community, by introducing the clan system and political representation. Explain how Minnesota is home to over 90,000 Hmong immigrants, with St. Paul being the largest urban concentration in the US. 

 

Cultural strength

  • Explain how the clan system is a strength for the Hmong. Use a team analogy to help explain a clan; if one member of your team wants to start a business, everyone on the team pitches in to help.
    • Turn and Talk: Who is a part of your clan, or “team,” or the people you can always count on? 
  • Connection to Resistance: Explain to the students that resistance doesn’t always mean fighting, and can also mean organizing to make sure your people or community have a voice and receive fair treatment. 

 

Politics

  • For a long time, the Hmong community in MN did not have anyone in city or state government who understood their history or culture. Hmong lacked political representation until Mee Moua came along in 2002. Mee Moua was the first elected Hmong state senator.
  • Not only did she use her voice to make sure Hmong were heard, she also opened the door for Foung Hawj and others to follow, attracting Hmong Americans to participate in politics.

 

Chew: Bo Thao-Urabe’s Story

  • Provide an excerpt from “Bo Thao-Urabe” from Green Card Entrepreneur Voices, pages 11–12.
  • Have students read the passage of Bo’s experience with creating positive changes.

 

Group Task

  • Paragraph and Summary: One partner reads a paragraph; the other summarizes the paragraph in 5 words. Switch halfway through the reading.
  • Discuss and Analyze: 
    • Recall: What challenges did Bo face when she was growing up?
      • Sentence Starter: Bo faced the challenge of . . . 
    • Concept: How did Bo use her resilience to help her start her own projects?
      • Sentence Starter: Bo showed resilience by _____________; this helped her because ___________.
    • Connect: How does Bo’s story show resistance, using her power to create a positive change for others?
      • Sentence Starter: Her work created change for the community by __________.

 

Optional Extension Assignment: Hmong Politicians Profile Assignment

  • Create a list of Hmong politicians; have students pick one to research and complete a worksheet on.
    • Possible politicians: Kaohly Her, Fue Lee, Jay Xiong, Nelsie Yang, Samantha Vang, Mai Xiong, Susan Pha, etc.
    • See the worksheet.

 

Review: Exit Ticket

Have students fill in the blank to answer this question prompt: “The Hmong community united together and drew on their strength of ______________________ to challenge ____________________, and created a lasting change by _____________________.”

 

Multilingual and ELL Support

  • Provide a graphic organizer for the Hmong politician profile assignment.
  • Provide sentence stems for reflection questions:
    • A quality one would need is _______ because . . .   
    • I noticed that  . . .
    • I think / I believe Hmong American Day is important / not important because . . . 
    • I think many Hmong became interested/involved in politics because . . . 
    • We can celebrate / critique _______________ because . . .

Vocabulary and Definitions

  • System: the organized way of doing something based on the way it was set up and meant to work
  • Resilience: the ability to bounce back after a tough experience or time
  • Clan system: a large extended family connected by both a shared last name and shared ancestors
  • Change: the process of something becoming different than what it was before
  • Politician: a person elected to help run a government and make decisions for the city, state, or country
  • Entrepreneur: a person who starts their own business or projects to help solve a problem or provide goods or services

Resource List 

Hmong Politicians Profile Assignment

Directions: Choose a current or former Hmong American elected official (like Mee Moua, Foung Hawj, Samantha Vang, Tou Xiong, Jay Xiong, Mai Xiong, etc.) to research. Draw an image of them in the box below. Use trusted sources to complete their profile below!

Facts:

Politician’s Name: ___________________________________________________ 

Age and year elected: ________________________________________________

City & State Where They Live: ______________________________________

Position: ______________________________________________________________

Their District or City: ________________________________________________

Political Party: ________________________________________________________

            

Background:

Where were they born? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where did they go to school? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did they do before they were elected? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why did they decide to run for office? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

What Do They Stand For:

What are the top 2 or 3 things this politician wants to fix or improve, or their beliefs or issues?

Issue 1: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Issue 2: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Issue 3: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Describe at least one or two new bills, laws, projects, or big ideas they helped create or pass while in office.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Impact:

How has this politician specifically helped or spoken up for the Hmong American community? Give a real example.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Reflection: 

Why do you think it is important for Hmong Americans to be elected as lawmakers and government leaders?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 1: Identity and Language – Hmong Identity and Language

Time Frame

  • 1–2 class periods

 

Materials

  • Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a St. Paul High School – Iya Xiong’s story and video
  • T-Chart 
  •  

Connections to the 7 Cs of Ethnic Studies

  • Cultivate: learning about the Hmong history, people, and language to provide opportunities for identity affirmation and healing
  • Celebrate: using Hmong counter-stories and community narratives through storytelling

Instructions

Ignite: Language

Write on the board: 
Nyob zoo. Kuv lub npe hu ua . . . 
(Hello. My name is . . .)

 

Ask students if anyone recognizes the language or can read it. Call on a few to guess or read it out loud. Ask students to raise their hands if they speak a language other than English at home. 

 

Turn and Talk

Imagine if you were to move to a new country where no one speaks, reads, or understands your language. How would you tell them who you are? How would you tell your story?

  • Ask a few students to share out loud with the class.

 

Chunk: Oral Tradition

Introduce the Hmong people as an ethnic minority group out of China who migrated throughout much of Southeast Asia. The CIA recruited Hmong to help with the Secret War in Laos, and as a result, many Hmong had to flee Laos into refugee camps in Thailand. Today, Hmong are scattered throughout the United States, with a massive presence in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Twin Cities are home to the largest concentration of Hmong. The Hmong identity has been shaped by a fight to retain their language and culture. 

  • Briefly explain the Hmong journey: China -> Laos -> Refugee Camps -> US
  • Define “oral tradition”: history passed down by mouth, usually through storytelling, songs, or cultural practices, rather than reading through books. 

 

Turn and Talk

When in school, students learn history by reading textbooks. Why is oral history just as important as textbooks?

  • Ask for a few students to share out loud with the class. 

 

Chunk: Hmong RPA

  • Explain Hmong RPA (Roman Popular Alphabet), the most common Hmong writing system today. It was developed in the 1950s by French missionaries. RPA are the ABC’s that we know, but the Hmong written version just sounds different. 
  • Briefly explain that Hmong is a tonal language with eight tones. The final letter in a written Hmong word is usually not pronounced; it indicates the tone or vocal pitch, and each word has its own meaning. 
  • Show the students the word Hmoob (Hmong). Explain to them that the “b” at the end is silent; it is a tone marker, tells you only to say the word with the high tone, and acts like a musical note. 

 

Turn and Talk

What might happen if you didn’t say the word Hmoob with a high tone, and instead said it with a lower or mid tone? How does language influence or affect one’s oral history?

  • Ask a few students to share out loud. 

Chew: Iya Xiong’s Story and Activity

  • Provide a short excerpt from “Iya Xiong” from Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a St. Paul High School, using the middle of page 3 to 4.
  • Read the passage of Iya’s experience in America out loud to the class, and have them follow along.

 

T-Chart Activity

  • Provide students with a T-Chart labeled Barriers on one side and Bridges on the other.
    • Barrier – On this side of the chart, have students find and write about Iya’s experiences that made her feel lonely, confused, different, or challenged.
    • Bridge – On this side of the chart, have students find and write about Iya’s experiences that made her feel proud, connected to her family, or positive. 
    • Students should identify at least 3-5 barriers and bridges each.

 

Group Discussion/Share

  • How does Iya’s story add to the history of Minnesota?

 

Review: 3-2-1 Exit Ticket

On a slip of paper (regular notebook paper or sticky notes) or a digital form, students must write and turn in:

  • Three things they learned about Hmong history or the language
  • Two reasons why storytelling is important
  • One question they still have about Hmong culture

 

Multilingual and ELL Support

  • Provide sentence stems for class discussion and discourse.
  • Provide students with the T-Chart.

 

Vocabulary and Definitions

  • Oral tradition: history passed down by mouth, usually through storytelling, songs, or cultural practices, rather than reading through books
  • Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA): the Hmong reading and writing system that uses the same letters found in English

Resource List 

 

T-Chart

 

Direction: Complete this T-Chart as you listen to Iya’s story. What were some barriers and bridges?

Barriers
Write about Iya’s experiences that made her feel lonely, confused, different, or challenged.		 Bridges
Write about Iya’s experiences that made her feel proud, connected to her family, or positive.