They are the Hmong:
The Hmong in the United States
The Hmong in the United States There are nearly 200,000 Hmong in the United States, and they still speak their language, and mostly live together. One of the ethnic minorities in southwestern China, how did these Hmong people get to the United States? What about their life and culture?
The Miao people have been migrating continuously since ancient times, and every migration is related to war. It is said that the ancestors of the Miao people originally lived in the middle belt. Later, due to the war, they began the first and largest migration. They crossed the rolling Yellow River and settled in present-day Hubei and Huzhou. They became one of the main ethnic groups of the Chu State in the future. . After that, due to constant wars, the Miao people were forced to expand to Xiangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places in Hunan, basically forming the current situation. About this large-scale westward migration, there is a famous national epic "Westward Movement Along the River". The migration did not end here. Over the long years, the Miao people continued to suffer from wars and natural disasters. They finally went abroad and went deep into the mountainous areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and other countries. There are hundreds of thousands of them. The third great migration of man. However, only a small part of the Miao people migrated this time, and most of them still stayed in China. However, this part of the Miao people traveled thousands of miles to a foreign country and still did not live a peaceful life. Created countless refugees in Laos. In 1975, more than 100,000 Hmong people suffered from the war and became refugees and flowed into Thailand. With the help of relevant international relief organizations, 60,000 Hmong refugees immigrated to the United States. Most of them are 20 to 30 families who live together at home and have established Miao associations. When I first arrived in the United States, there were more than 10,000 Hmong and 15,000 Hmong people in California, which were two major settlements. Later, tens of thousands more Hmong people immigrated to the United States, nearly 30,000 people, and now there are nearly 200,000 Hmong people in the United States.
When these people first arrived in the United States, most of them did not understand English. The language barrier prevented most of them from finding jobs and had to rely on government funds to survive. In order to solve their difficulties, the local government specially invited teachers to teach them English and living customs. After learning English, the local Hmong association will help you find a job. Due to their low level of education, most people can only do some simple manual labor, such as women doing cassette player assembly, sweeping the floor, boiling water, etc., and men doing restaurants, selling fish, etc. Today, except for a very small number of elderly people who live on relief funds, the Miao people in the United States have far less income than other Americans, but their lives have been greatly improved. People who suffer from low education levels try every possible means to send their children to school. By 1988, 10 Miao children had obtained doctorates and bachelor's degrees, 50 were studying for master's degrees, and more than 100 were studying for bachelor's degrees. In order to maintain their own national culture, they also spend a certain amount of time learning Miao language. Nowadays, the Hmong people in the United States use both Hmong and English. They also publish two issues a year to exchange information and introduce scientific knowledge to the Hmong people in various places. In addition, there are three Miao people who have published some Miao books. However, according to some elderly Miao people who came to the United States, the current Hmong youth in the United States have begun to learn the American way of life and are very worried that they will eventually lose their cultural traditions. They are looking for ways to maintain their traditional culture.
Interestingly, although the Hmong people in the United States came to the United States from Laos via Thailand, they all believe that their roots go to Guizhou, Yunnan and other places in China to trace their roots and participate in the celebrations of ethnic festivals. What they are saying now is that the Laotian Hmong people can talk directly to each other, and they feel no strangers to each other and feel cordial.