Hmong American

people share in a community and ethnocentric people believe that their way of living and behavior is the natural and normal way. Hmong people migrated to the United States from Laos to escape the ongoing war, and their culture and beliefs collided with American cultural in several ways. Hmong’s and American’s beliefs differ about medicine, authority and raising children. The Hmong have struggled throughout history to preserve their unique culture fighting especially against Chinese dominance.…

The war in Laos impacted the Hmong people; many men had left their families to become a soldier. During the war, many families were split up, some families stayed in the villages and other families decided to fled Laos because the country fell into communist forces. The families who decided to flee the village were technically fighting in the war. Many family members such as: wives, children’s, and grandparents had died because of starvation or being left behind. Coming into the United States,…

medical communications are addressed through the story of a young, Hmong girl, Lia. Through her medical journey with epilepsy, the book shows how traditional boundaries and medical beliefs can clash and at times, bringing some negative outcomes to patients and their families. The novel introduces us to the Hmong culture, stressing their dire need to hold on to their culture so much that even some older traditions can make the Hmong people seem extremely stubborn, even when up against the science…

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down written by Ann Fadiman is about a Hmong child, Lia Lee, that has epilepsy. Lia Lees’ story shows the importance of communication in the medical profession dealing with different cultures. Yer, Lia’s older sister, slammed a door which triggered Lia’s first seizure. Quag dab peg or “the spirit catches you when you fall down” is the diagnosis that her parents gave her illness. The Lee family believed in spiritual healing rather than prescribed medication…

Religion and Holidays The Hmong have a triple faceted religion. It revolves around the cult of spirits, the shaman and ancestor worship. Hmong culture believe that spirits reside in all things and are in two worlds. The two worlds are known as "Yeeb – Ceeb, which is the land of the spirits and the Yaj – Ceeb, that is the world of human beings, material objects and nature." (Owens, 2007) The shaman is important as they can make contact with the spirit world and often call upon a certain spirits…

The Hmong had a folktale, that expressed how they became mountain dwellers. For a multitude of years they lived high in the mountains, where they were very independent and maintained very little contact with those who lived in the plains. They had this belief that it would make them sick. As mentioned by Yoost and Crawford (2017) culture is symbolic in many ways; signs, sounds, clothing, tools customs, rituals, and other items were able to represent meaningful concepts to people (p.395). The…

In our culture, Hmong, there are certain morals that differentiate depending on your last name and what group you are. For example, my parents always reminds me and my siblings to marry only to our people and not to other culture out there. Although many peoples from different ethnicities are “okay” with the idea to marry other people into their family, my family’s way of marriage is that it is seen not appropriate to marry other into our family. These certain traditions, morals, and values make…

Introduction The film The Split Horn The Life of a Hmong Shaman in America focuses on how health and illness is dealt with in the Hmong culture. It is about the life of a Hmong family who moved to Appleton Wisconsin from Laos and how they are adapting to this new place. The journey of a Shaman 's family is explored and it is expressed that they have their own set of traditions in their culture but when this family moved to America it was learned that it is difficult to carry out traditions.…

There are many reasons why Southern Vietnamese refugees, like, Khao Do left vietnam after the Vietnam war. In 1975, when the country became Communist, the previously Southern citizens did not feel free and they attempted to leave. Example, no-one could practise their own religions and cultures. Some of the Southerners were sent to “Re-education Camp,” due to not following the communist rules. Approximately two million people were sent to camps. The Vietnamese refugees weren’t allowed to leave…

In the Hmong culture, this phrase literally translates to, quag, meaning to fall over with one’s roots still in ground, dab, which refers to a soul-stealing spirit, and peg, to catch or hit. Apparently, since Lia’s older sister Yer slammed the front door of their…