Hmong Americans in Michigan
Hmong Americans in Michigan
Martha Aladjem Bloomfield
Series: Discovering the Peoples of Michigan
Copyright Date: 2014
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Pages: 100
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/j.ctt7zt9xz
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Book Info
Hmong Americans in Michigan
Book Description:

The Hmong people, originating from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, are unique among American immigrants because of their extraordinary history of migration; loyalty to one another; prolonged abuse, trauma, and suffering at the hands of those who dominated them; profound loss; and independence, as well as their amazing capacity to adapt and remain resilient over centuries. This introduction to their experience in Michigan discusses Hmong American history, culture, and more specifically how they left homelands filled with brutality and warfare to come to the United States since the mid-1970s. More than five thousand Hmong Americans live in Michigan, and many of them have faced numerous challenges as they have settled in the Midwest. How did these brave and innovative people adapt to strange new lives thousands of miles away from their homelands? How have they preserved their past through time and place, advanced their goals, and cultivated plans for their children and education? What are their lives like in the diaspora? As this book documents via personal interviews and extensive research, despite the tremendous losses they have suffered for many years, the Hmong people in Michigan continue to demonstrate courage and profound resilience.

eISBN: 978-1-60917-409-5
Subjects: History, Sociology
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-vi)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii)
  3. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. ix-xii)
  4. Timeline of the Hmong
    Timeline of the Hmong (pp. xiii-xvi)
  5. Preface
    Preface (pp. xvii-xxii)
  6. A Brief Overview of Hmong History
    A Brief Overview of Hmong History (pp. 1-22)

    The Hmong are a people who have no country of their own. For centuries, they have migrated thousands of miles and struggled as a minority to survive wherever they have lived. Not having a written language, they have relied on oral communications to maintain strong connections with family and friends in different countries across continents. While the Hmong traditionally lived far away from modern society with its conveniences of transportation and resources, they created a very strong “sense of kinship and community.”²

    Each ethnic group of people in the world is unique. However, the Hmong are particularly special because of...

  7. Coming to Michigan
    Coming to Michigan (pp. 23-36)

    Over several centuries of history and always under a cloak of fear, the Hmong people migrated many times from one country to another. They finally left the refugee camps in Thailand beginning in the 1970s to go to the United States and other Western countries. The individuals interviewed whose stories appear here have had many profoundly difficult experiences prior to coming to the United States—adapting to different peoples, cultures, and geography—usually in hostile environments. Throughout their history, the Hmong took few or no tangible belongings with them because they were always running for their lives, often literally on...

  8. Adapting to Michigan
    Adapting to Michigan (pp. 37-68)

    While the Hmong refugees have faced major challenges and difficulties adapting to Michigan, several significant factors have helped them survive and thrive. They have a tremendous ability and desire to preserve their culture and family that strengthens them individually and collectively. They have maintained connections with extended family within Michigan, the United States, and overseas. Vegetable gardening has helped some of the Michigan residents, particularly the elderly, to maintain ties with their past life in Laos, where they were predominately farmers. This has helped them stabilize their lives as they adapt to a radically different culture and society. Raising chickens...

  9. Some Afterthoughts
    Some Afterthoughts (pp. 69-70)

    Hmong Americans in Michiganis merely an initial, very brief introduction to the Hmong Americans in Michigan, a backdrop or launch pad for others to explore the history of these people and to conduct future research so that others may learn more about these strong, brave, innovative people. While I interviewed a dozen or more refugees, more than five thousand Michigan residents of Hmong descent live in the state. Each has a story to tell to complement and supplement their people’s history in Laos and Thailand and their journey, adaptation, and contributions to Michigan.

    The Hmong people have made major...

  10. Appendix 1. Hmong Populations in Michigan Areas
    Appendix 1. Hmong Populations in Michigan Areas (pp. 71-72)
  11. Appendix 2. Education and Socioeconomic Attainment in the United States
    Appendix 2. Education and Socioeconomic Attainment in the United States (pp. 73-74)
  12. Appendix 3. Recipes
    Appendix 3. Recipes (pp. 75-80)
  13. Appendix 4. Resources
    Appendix 4. Resources (pp. 81-82)
  14. Notes
    Notes (pp. 83-90)
  15. For Further Reference
    For Further Reference (pp. 91-98)
  16. Index
    Index (pp. 99-101)
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