Hmong Cultural Association

I had never heard of Hmong until I looked at the list of associations on campus. I decided to go to the Hmong Cultural Association's potluck dinner Saturday night, interested to learn what Hmong exactly was.

I arrived promptly at six and was sad to see no one was there. I waited for about 10 minutes hoping the event wasn't canceled. A few minutes later a group of very friendly and welcoming people started to arrive. They brought with them an array of Asian cuisine, rice, sushi, spring rolls, pork, won tons, egg rolls, and a variety of sauces. As everyone ate I started to ask questions to figure out what Hmong was.

It turns out Hmong is not a place, it is a language and a culture of a minority of people. Hmong people are primarily from Thailand and Laos, but they can be found all over, from France, Vietnam, China, Germany, even Australia and South America. All of the students in the club however, were born in America or moved over when they were younger and then were raised here, so none of them are actually International Students.

David Chambers a recent graduate in History was one of the few people in the association who was not actually Hmong. He however served his mission in Thailand and knows more about Hmong people than anyone in the association, because he plans on getting his Masters in Hmong studies and the History of South East Asia. "Hmong means free and Hmong people are often referred to as Nomads or Hill people," said Chambers. Apparently, they lived in the mountains doing small scale agriculture and whenever their soil wasn't good anymore they would migrate.

"The Hmong people started in China and had wars with the Chinese in the 1800s and they got pushed farther down China and Laos," said Chambers.  "On the way they picked up things from different cultures, like Tai and Chinese words, and food from different places like egg rolls from Vietnam." So, their culture really is a fusion of several different Asian cultures, as was the food at their potluck.