Upon entering the house I was surprised at the amount of family visiting. I was apprehensive that they would not approve of a stranger entering their home in order to listen to the details of the mother’s life. I feared I would receive disapproving looks before I had the opportunity to convince them I come in peace.
I was wrong.
The children of the family were very warm and welcoming- readily conversing with me as I entered the house. We presented Va and her husband with the duck we brought from San Francisco and they were delighted to receive a favorite.
I was invited to sit on the couch next to one of the daughters in the family. Va and her husband sat on the opposite couch from me as Ila and I inquired which of the children can best translate. The two teenagers sitting in the room were uneasy- fearing their Hmong was not accurate enough. As we debated calling the oldest brother in the family, the front door flung open and in walked another brother dressed in camouflage and carrying a rifle.
Unsightly and fearfully awkward as one could imagine this sight to be, it was actually amusing. He entered the living room and apologized for bursting in with such clothes and a weapon. He just returned from a long day of hunting, he explained, and he was “very sorry if I was startled”.
“How is your Hmong” we asked, “Can you translate”.
“Sure” he said, “just let me go and change”. Everyone laughed.
Ila and I explained the purpose of “50 Women”, telling Va how much her story inspired Ila, pausing every few seconds to allow for the translation. Va smiled. She is a lovely, matronly and very bright woman with a soul of golden sun. Her aura and disposition were immediately apparent, which made it very easy to converse with her about her life experiences.
The Hmong are a minority ethnic group predominately found in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Burma. Their cultural norms are vastly different than those of the west from traditions to religious beliefs. They are a culture of survivors, having no actual country to call their own; rather they are identified anthropologically as nomadic harvesters.
In the above countries, they live in villages which are formed by a strictly traditional clan dichotomy. These clans are the root of all sense of community to the Hmong. There are roughly 18 Hmong clans. Clans serve as family groups and the clan name is the family name.
Upon talking to Va, I happened to notice by her name, Xiong, which clan she is identified with. These clans are the basis of social or political organization in Hmong society. The clans provide their members with financial support and other mutual assistance.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Va’s story is how she initially became a refugee. She lived in Laos at a critical time in world history during the Vietnam War.
As she explained her experiences, she outlined the victimization of her people following the US Army’s occupation in Laos.
In 1951, a secret relationship was formed between Hmong leader Vang Pao, and US CIA operatives in Laos. The CIA coordinated efforts against the communists in Laos in partnership with Vang Pao. To be precise, the Hmong then aided the US in blocking the North Vietnamese from their efforts to extend the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Laos. 30, 00-40,000 documented Hmong deaths occurred during the Vietnam War.
In late 1975- the Pathet Lao claimed that they wanted to “wipe out” all Hmong. Thousands began attempting to escape Laos by crossing the Mekong River into Thailand. Va explained this experience to me after her village went under siege. She made the journey with her new husband, a baby on her back and 8 months pregnant. She talked about crossing the river and leaving behind the only piece of this world she knew in attempt to flee to Thailand. She was calm and steadily explained the details of her experience to me as I sat stunned and feeling insignificant so close to such a resilient survivor.
Around this time Several Hmong refugee camps were established in Thailand, perhaps the most famous was Ban Vinai.
Va, as thousands of other Hmong refugees left the Thailand camp for the United States.
I asked Va to speak about Hmong culture; to introduce the world to the customs and rituals very different from the west. I found these details to be like a strange candy. The Hmong are Animistic, and practice shaman rituals. The Hmong believe that the spiritual world continues to co-exist with the physical world. Their religious, health and medicinal ideals concern the belief that 8-12 souls make up an individual. Shamans are the means of communications between these two worlds. The shaman performs rituals with the goal of pacifying these spirits.
In Hmong medicine, illness is generally regarded as a loss or possession of one or more of the souls. The loss of souls is believed to occur in a variety of ways. Some of the main include:
- Sudden fright
- Fear or too much grief
- Capture by evil spirits
- A soul transferring to another being b/c they are unhappy
The Hmong believe depression is caused by having lost souls. When the children are sick, she explained, Hmong will take the children to a shaman.
For the Hmong refugees resettled in California, this created conflicts between the austere and principled western medicinal system and the Animistic traditional beliefs. Western procedures such as surgery, autopsies and drawing blood bear heavily symbolic spiritual issues for the traditional Hmong. Va is not quite so austere as she has lived in the United States for some time. This apparent clash of belief systems is presented in “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”.
She decided to show me some of the clothes she handmade for the Hmong New Year celebration. She dragged large bags from a living room closet and began handing me different garments including the traditional hat. The clothes were stunning, stitched to perfection with decadent fabrics adorning them. She was very proud her creations.

A traditional Hmong hat with Lao currency attached. These hats are worn for the New Year celebration.
Perhaps the most fascinating moment occurred when I ask if there were any family members remaining in Laos. One family member became slightly emotional at this point, explaining a sister of the family still lives there and that “her house keeps falling down”. They have never met, but he would just like to know that she is safe. He would like for her to just have a stable house to live in.
Ila asked what the cost in American dollars would be to build such a structure. We concluded it would be roughly 40,000 USD. Voila. Unto us- a Hmong cause is born! This cause will be for Va and her family.
We were invited to dinner, which was delicious- especially considering I had only eaten various snacks from the Trader Joe’s bag in the car all day. They laughed as I carefully took the meat with my spoon, as Va explained it was “ok” to eat with “the hands” in her house. Ahhhh- much more laid back.
In parting, we promised the family to revisit them. I thanked Va for telling me her story and her son for translating and for their glowing kindness to a stranger such as myself.
That night- I slept soundly. Tired from the drive and the rainbow rush of the emotions I experienced. My head nested warmly on a feather pillow, dreaming of a long winding river and a new stable house in another corner of the world- far, far away from here…






















