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1) K-12 Ethnic Minority Hmong People

The terms Hmong refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southeast Asia. Hmong are also one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu population in southern China. Beginning in the 18th century, Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration due to political unrest and to find more arable land. As a result, Hmong currently also live in several countries in Southeast Asia, including northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma.

In Laos, a significant number of Hmong/Mong people fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao during the Secret War. When the Pathet Lao took over the government in 1975, Hmong/Mong people were singled out for retribution, and tens of thousands fled to Thailand for political asylum. Since the late 1970s, thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries, mostly the United States, but also Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada. Others have been returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs. Around 8,000 Hmong/Mong refugees remain in Thailand.[3]

Furthermore, a counterpart wall to the Great Wall in the south was erected to protect and divide the Chinese from the 'southern barbarians'. Politically and militarily, the Hmong continued to be a stone in the shoe of the Chinese empire. The Hmong were more than a match against the Chinese since the latter's military was stretched across China defending against northern invaders. The Chinese had to fall back on political means to ensnare Hmong people, they created multiple competing positions of substantial prestige for Hmong people to participate and assimilate into the Chinese government system. During the Ming and Qing times, the official position of Kaitong was created in Indochina. The Hmong would employ the use of the Kiatong government structure until the 1900s when they entered into French colonial politics in Indochina.


2)
HMONG STUDIES NEWSLETTER
Winter 2009 (January-March 2009)

ONLINE PUBLICATION OF THE HMONG STUDIES INTERNET RESOURCE CENTER (www.hmongstudies.org)

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION: The Hmong Studies Resource Newsletter has since 2001 provided a very unique
and consistent source of up-to-date information about new works in Hmong Studies and
Hmong-related research resources. To access back issues of this online publication dating back to
2001 visit: http://www.hmongstudies.org/HmongStudiesNewslettersindex.html

Hmong Studies Newsletter Editor: Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD

ABOUT THE HMONG STUDIES INTERNET RESOURCE CENTER:

The Hmong Studies Internet Resource Center (www.hmongstudies.org) is the online home of the Hmong
Studies Journal academic journal. The unique scholarly site also contains extensive bibliographies in Hmong
Studies as well as census data and an online research paper library.

Many of the Hmong Studies articles, books and dissertations listed in this newsletter and on the website may be
found at the Hmong Resource Center Library at the Hmong Cultural Center in Saint Paul, perhaps the largest
depository of Hmong Studies academic articles and dissertations in the United States. The Hmong Resource
Center Library of the Hmong Cultural Center is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 – 5. Other
times are available by appointment. The Hmong Resource Center is located in the Hmong Cultural Center’s
offices at 995 University Avenue, Suite 214 in Saint Paul. Phone: 651-917-9937. Librarians: Xai Lor, Cher Vue
and Ray Murray. E-Mail: xailor@hmongcc.org

Martha Bigelow, Letitia Basford and Esther Smidt. (2008). “Supporting Hmong Newcomers’ Academic
and Social Transition to Elementary School.” Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and
Advancement 3: 1-22. This article reports on the perceptions teachers and educational assistants had about
how well Transitional Language Centers and a Language Academy program met the needs of elementary aged
Hmong children resettled in the Saint Paul Public School system from Wat Tham Krabok. View this article online
at: http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/26/57

Duong Bich Hanh. (2008). “Contesting Marginality: Consumption, Networks, and Everyday Practices
among Hmong Girls in Sa Pa, Northwestern Vietnam.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies 3(3): 231-260.
This paper investigates the processes by which Hmong girls in Sa Pa, Vietnam adopt modern practice,
construct a symbolic cosmopolitan space and consume its products as a way to challenge stereotypes imposed
on them by the larger Vietnamese society as both marginalized and also romanticized “Others.”

Bic Ngo. (2008). “The Affective Consequences of Cultural Capital: Feelings of Powerlessness,
Gratitude and Faith among Hmong Refugee Parents.” Journal of Southeast Asian American
Education and Advancement 3: 1-19. In this article, the author examines the impact of the exclusionary
characteristics of cultural capital upon refugee Hmong parents from Wat Tham Krabok. The author highlights
themes of uncertainty, powerlessness, gratitude and faith that parents raised when discussing their children’s
education. The author suggests that efforts to pay attention to the affective (emotional) consequences of
cultural capital is crucial for understanding the outlook of refugee Hmong parents in relation to their children’s
education. View this paper online at: http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/28/53