Utah girl's pierced nose: US-Indian culture clash Nov 9, 2009
Hmong immigrants lose a secret garden. The setting sun is an orange stamp on a rice-paper sky. (Fresno Bee -- Nation)
'Sin City' changes will take a village Nov 1, 2009
The proposed centerpiece for El Dorado Park's transformation is a three-story, 21,000-square-foot Early Education and Cultural Center on half the property Stone Soup owns on Bulldog Lane, which could include a Hmong museum ... Yes, the center -- which would include a Hmong Museum and a roof-top amphitheater -- is estimated to cost $8 million ... But, you should see the Arthur Dyson-drawn plans, which incorporate the latest green technology and reflect traditional Hmong culture. (Fresno Bee)
Top Plains Indian dancers 'Come to the Center' Nov 1, 2009
Performers will include the Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre, Shelley Morningsong and local Hmong and Irish dancers. Admission is free. (Anchorage Daily News)
A taste of HMONG TRADITION Oct 28, 2009
Quick question: Can you name three Hmong dishes ... For even in the San Joaquin Valley, home to one of the country's largest Hmong populations, the cuisine of this Southeast Asian group largely remains a mystery ... "Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America" (University of Minnesota Press, $29. (Fresno Bee)
Don't take Valley food diversity for granted Sep 23, 2009
Once immigrants arrive, they experience a new set of struggles, says Chukou Thao, executive director of the Hmong American Farmers Association. For example, he recalls one meeting where officials tried to distribute Chinese-language brochures to Hmong farmers. (Fresno Bee)
Highlights of the annual Tamejavi Festival Sep 18, 2009
The cultures: Representatives from the Hmong, Indigenous Mexican, Iranian, Filipino, Native American and African-American communities will be on hand. The opening ceremonies: Things kick off 10 a.m. with a blessing ceremony. (Fresno Bee)
Valley's global menu is on display Sep 11, 2009
Mao and Cheng Thao will host an event that features traditional Hmong produce, cooking and culture. In addition to eating a traditional Hmong meal made with ingredients from the farm, guests can pick and buy vegetables ... Hmong dances performed by students will round out the afternoon. (Fresno Bee)
Shooting investigation touches cultural sensitivity...Even normal police procedures can touch a nerve Aug 31, 2009
Family members and residents of the Evergreen Isle Mobile Home Court are frustrated over how police investigation of the deaths of Toua, 32, Siong, 25, and 13-year-old Seng Kong conflicts with Hmong custom of respectful handling of the dead ... It is a Hmong custom, Vang said, to place something over the head of a loved one who has died. (Menomonie Dunn County News, WI)
Hmoobfest this weekend aims to unite communities Aug 21, 2009
A man plays a traditional Hmong instrument, the Qeej, in this photo provided by the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association ... The celebration Saturday and Sunday at the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Chippewa Falls will be an opportunity to chat and get to know more about the Hmong culture that s been part of western Wisconsin life since 1976 ... Even though we live together, we pretty much live in our own separate worlds, said Evan Xiong, executive director of the Eau... (Chippewa Falls Chippewa Herald, WI)
Hmong gather to honor Song Ger Xiong Jul 20, 2009
Some call Gen. Vang Pao 'King of the Hmong. WESTMINSTER -- "The General," now 79, no longer commands battalions of Hmong guerrilla fighters or the fawning attention of U.S. lawmakers and heads of state ... It's a world away from Long Chieng, the secret CIA base in the mountains of northern Laos known as "Spook Heaven," where he lived from 1963 to 1975, waging war on Lao and Vietnamese communists with his jungle army of Hmong and Iu Mien warriors. (Fresno Bee)
Hung and Stung Jul 9, 2009
Chai Soua Vang may not be a household name for those who dont live in the upper Midwest, but many of us remember Wisconsins 2004 Hmong hunter case, in which Vang killed six hunters and wounded two in a dispute that included a trespassing dispute and racial slurs. The mainstream media and people in polite company tend to dance around the issue, but I can tell you that Asian Americans dont forget for a moment what these four have in common: All are Asian-American males. (Slate)
Murdered by her husband last month, Pahoua Vang’s funeral this weekend Jun 28, 2009
Without physical marks to prove abuse, Hmong culture directed Pahoua s parents to guide their daughter back to her husband, Pha said ... His family was to handle her funeral arrangements and expenses as dictated in Hmong culture ... The leader, a Connecticut man, felt Pahoua ignored Hmong common law when she sought outside help for her marital problems, said Thai Vue, executive director of the La Crosse Hmong Mutual Assistance Association. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
MIKE THARP: Five Hmong sisters get five degrees Jun 22, 2009
The four oldest, motivated by what they learned from their parents by watching them work and listening to their life stories, decided that the way to give back to their Hmong culture and community here would be to study medicine and science ... After walking for 14 days and nights through the jungle, 11 Hmong refugees came to the banks of the Mekong River that divides Laos from Thailand ... (Henry is now employment program coordinator of Merced Lao Family Community Inc., which provides... (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Signs of hope that body of drowned boy may be found Jun 22, 2009
Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand, center, talks about Hmong beliefs with Xiong Yang, left, and his wife, Ka Thao, during a visit, April 4, to the scene of the drownings May 12, 2007, below Lock and Dam 7 ... But nearly two years later, Joshua continues to elude them, perhaps, as some in the Hmong culture suspect, because the boy s spirit is destined to forever haunt the waters where he died ... Brand doesn t know much about Hmong spirits. (Winona Daily News, MN)
Volunteers, family gripped by search for Joshua Xiong Jun 22, 2009
Cha Kong and his wife, See Her, were found just as a Hmong shaman had said ... That prospect would doom Joshua to forever haunt the waters where he died, the Hmong believe ... Along the banks, surviving family members and Hmong shamans lit candles, burned incense and prayed near a symbolic fire ring. (Winona Daily News, MN)
Sheriff hopes that drowned boy's body may be found Jun 20, 2009
But nearly two years later, Joshua continues to elude them, perhaps, as some in the Hmong culture suspect, because the boy's spirit is destined to forever haunt the waters where he died. Brand doesn't know much about Hmong spirits ... The sheriff was their rock, a bridge between the Hmong culture that chanted and prayed along the banks and the volunteers who combed the waters. (Brainerd Daily Dispatch)
Haunted: The search for Joshua Xiong Jun 6, 2009
Joshua Xiong wanders along these waters, trapped between the living and the dead, until his body can be found and buried, the Hmong culture believes ... Two cultures Hmong and predominantly Anglo have occupied the same corner of Minnesota and Wisconsin, bound by an unimaginable tragedy ... A few months earlier, a Hmong shaman had visited the family to treat a sick relative. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Haunted waters: Bio boxes Jun 6, 2009
She describes herself as Americanized but also believes in the old Hmong teachings ... Thai is the director of the Hmong Mutual Assistance Association in La Crosse, Wis ... Thai works to build a bridge of understanding between the Christian and Hmong cultures and their ideas on life, death and the afterlife. (Winona Daily News, MN)
Burmaster:Everyone has a stake in schools Apr 15, 2009
Hmong Education Project: Wendy Mattison, fine arts department, La Crosse School District, 1,304 ... La Crosse schools and the Hmong Mutual Assistance Association will create an educational experience about Hmong history and culture for all district fourth-grade students and teachers at the Hmong Cultural and Community Center. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
A long way from streets paved with gold Apr 14, 2009
At the camp, he also picked up three other East Asian languages Thai, Hmong and Vietnamese on top of his native Karen and Burmese. Unlike other immigrants, refugees, who have been designated unable to return home for fear of persecution or death, require no special visa for employment or length of stay. (Albany Times Union)
LA's Getty partners with Italian museum Mar 25, 2009
New Hmong community garden. First day of Fresno State football spring practice. (Fresno Bee -- State)
Appeals court: Hmong marriage provides no defense Mar 5, 2009
A state appeals court Wednesday refused to grant a new trial to a Hmong man who wants to argue the 14-year-old girl he was convicted of sexually assaulting was his wife in the Hmong culture ... He said he and the victim were married within the Hmong culture so no sexual assault occurred ... Malila Yang, a family care case manager for the Hmong Mutual Assistance Association in Sheboygan, said arranged marriages involving 14- and 15-year-old Hmong girls do happen. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Moncier credits election victory to Latino ties Feb 15, 2009
There were times in the past when I had to press the issues of language equality and advocate on behalf of my Hispanic students and Hmong students, he said. I do work with lots and lots of people and. (Lompoc Record, CA)
Hmong students, parents honored at recognition event Feb 11, 2009
He was spreading that message Tuesday at the annual Hmong Family Recognition Night at Logan Middle School ... Hmong parents from Longfellow, Lincoln and Logan middle schools also were able to speak with teachers and cultural liaisons, he said, and more than 30 participated in workshops ... Hmong teachers and business professionals talked to students as they gear up for high school, said Tony Yang, the district s Hmong coordinator. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW: Vang Lee Feb 8, 2009
Fresno State student Vang Lee volunteers for the universitys Hmong Student Association as well as the Central California Blood Center ... Lee has been a volunteer for the Hmong Student Association (HmSA) at California State University, Fresno, for more than two years ... Some of the goals of the organization are to share the Hmong culture with others through cultural events and workshops, to help Hmong students adjust to university life and to promote leadership, friendship and moral, ethical... (Fresno Bee -- Lifestyle)
The Citizen's Cinema Feb 8, 2009
" He's the most grizzled I've ever seen Eastwood, and his penchant for slow puffs on a cigarette and packing heat strengthen the parallels to the stealth video game hero. But Kowalski's personality veers toward Archie Bunker territory when he unflinchingly - yet, somehow, harmlessly - spits every conceivable racial epithet in the book in the presence of the offended race. Kowalski's racism is indeed played as both a source of humor and the base of his humanizing, but it's almost never cast as... (Auburn Citizen, NY)
