I WANT TO KNOW WHAT ALL OF THE YOUNG GENERATIONS OF HMONG PEOPLE PLAN ON DOING TO CONTINUE THE TRADITIONS OF OUR CULTURE. WOULD YOU CHANGE IT IN ANY WAY AND IF YOU DO, WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU MAKE.

I don't know any of the traditions you speak of.

Well, maybe a little.

ARE YOU NOT HMONG, I THOUGHT EVERYONE HERE WAS HMONG. MAYBE IM WRONG.

I ASKED THAT QUESTION, BECAUSE I READ SOME OF THE POST THAT YOU ALL HAVE WRITTEN DOWN ABOUT TRADITION AND ALL THAT, BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU PLAN ON KEEPING WITH THE TRADITIONS OR CHANGE IT AS YOU GO. SINCE WE ARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF HMONG.

THIS IS IN REPLY TO YAX

You are definitely a noob. Welcome to AF. (BTW, ALL CAPS INDICATES YELLING).

Anyway, Yes I'm Hmong, but like I said, I don't know any of the traditions you speak off

Anyone know the traditions? Please explain, with details.

I'd like to learn.

i say we keep the way it is..that's who we are, we enjoy that way..even if not, we'll learn it one day or another way.. if you got no pride in enjoying your new year and making it better for yourself, then that's you.. not our probz..
ya don't see chinese changing their tradition do you?

I say we keep it.

As much as I dislike the preparation involved (laziness at times) it is an integral part to us Hmong people. We don't have a country and now we don't want a tradition, a culture? WTF?! Be proud of who and what you are. I've never told anyone I was Chinese just b/c they've never heard of what a Hmong person was. It's important to inform others of who we are as a people.

I'm sure that everyone here has had encounters with those who are converted to the NEW STYLE (church goers) way of life but I'm perfectly happy and very content with how I'm still OLD STYLE (shamanism).

On this note, when I engage in conversation with church goers, most preach to me about the goodness of going to church and what not. I mean, WTF?! I don't preach about how we culturally do shamanisn so don't preach to me how by the goodness and grace of God, this and this happens. I'm not trying to convert anyone to something they're not, so leave US alone.

One more gripe, I see this THEM (NS) -vs- US (OS) issue a lot as well. What's up with this?! Just b/c I don't attend church doesn't mean that I don't have a sense of what it's all about. I have a friend who is OS and married a NS girl. When they do OS stuff, she never comes. To me, lack of respect. But when she does NS stuff with the church, he goes. If he doesn't, it all hits the fan. THEM is not better than US and US is not better than THEM. Open your eyes and see the world from someone else's perspective. We are what we are.

This is not meant to demean anyone who goes to church, but I already have a mom and dad and already am set in my beliefs.

Agree!? Disagree!?

i agree with you

Obviously some of us has no use for that traditional crap, right? We got the church, so called ticket to heaven and redemption. hahaha

Seriously...A lot you are just saying that but in truth you're not. How many of you actually helped out in events or go check out the Long Cheng slaughter house?

I can say that I'm not surprise.

i'm proud of my traditions....'cause that makes me a hmong!

however, i would like to change or simplify some rituals like
wedding ceremony, funeral ceremony, etc....: it's too long.....i'd like to simplify!

my opinion.....i rather change it...i'm getting too tired of living as the hmong tradition way...there's too many rules. sorry people...i'm more americanize than hmongish.

I agree with some of you on our traditions. It's good when you need it and it's bad when you don't need it. I'm kind of in between. I try to learn as much as I can about Hmong traditions from my parents and of course it goes in one ear and out the other, why, cause there's just too much to remember! Sooo many rituals and most of the time I don't even know whats going on or understand what's being said half the time. Even though, I don't know a lot and the things that I do know, I would still try to carry on our traditions to my kids, so that they'll at least know something about our traditions. Cause, now a days I see a lot of younger people forgetting that they're Hmong, cause their too Americanize and before you know it we probably won't know a thing about our roots and traditions. Like the old folks say, if we forget our ways, sooner or later we'll be paying the white folks to teach us our own traditions and ways.

Thanks for hearing me out!!

In bold is going to be very true!

We say we want to keep our tradition and all but do we really know what it is?
I'm asking because I don't even know it myself. Yes, I do want to carry on the trandition but I wouldn't know how to. However, I could only briefly cap on some of the main basic ideas of the tradition to my next generation(s) on the tradition, but I wouldn't know how to perform, act, nor take part in it.
Whether you're a church goer or not, you should always identify yourself as Hmong.

I remember reading something early on in this forum that church goers would preach about going to church and the goods of it. I say, there shouldn't be anything to complain about, because everywhere you go someone will be preaching about something and anything. All you could do and contribute is to listen with your ears and be open minded. And yeah, some shamanism goers don't preach about it but they'll always expect (maybe not spoken out loud but thinking about it in the back of their head) for you to participate if you're hmong and that's pretty much the same as being preached.

Well, to tell you the truth... I wouldn't want another ethnicity to teach me my own tradition, but I'm very afraid that one day....it will come to it.

We need shaman school!

Yes...Keeping it alive is important to us hmong but most of us are too lazy to even want to practice it. We prefer to go to church every weekend, before dinner, we prey because we think god had given us food on the table.

For those that don't know much like me, just hang in there and look to your local shamans for your needs. Usually, knowledge and tradition is pass to one of the family members. We are the few, the proud, and the original.

Very well said. I mean I know many of the traditions are somewhat useless in this society but I think that we should still remember them and practice them in a different way if possible...like they can just change to suit today. Ya know? Without tradition and culture, who are we? So yah its important.

yeah i'd rather change it a bit as well....(no offence tho) hmong traditions have their up and downs...tehre are some however that are good....

ya I'd would change it a bit too cause most of the important traditional parts r too long like funerals and the drinking damn its cool if u drink for goodness and health but some pple go over board way too much, I see that as disrepect, but everything else is fine the only hard part is learning the words, they're like riddles and really hard to remember

going to the new year is no longer ball tossing but to meet cute beautiful girls

and if that's not the case....it's the Arcade

Hope this year they bring in the Initial D arcade...my guess it's gonna be pack

i dont think we really have a choice when it comes to that, most of the hmong traditions are going to die off as the years roll by, because of the fact that most of us are becoming americanize. i bet if you ask any of ur friends if they are studying to be a shaman, your not gonna get a yes...hahah...then again you never know there could be a black sheep out there. anyways i think all the Kab tshooj kev kos stuff along with kev fau tuag stuff will probably be fogetten along the way for not many us r trying to perserve it. hey even my hmong's pretty bad...haha

we probably know half of what our parents know. my mom has about 3/4 of my grandpa's (her dad) knowledge on hmong culture, history, etc.

Everyone needs to keep a little of their culture, although it is a new world and the older generation is passing fast. Anyway, we have to preserve what is left of our culture. What kind of a New Year would we have if no one dresses up? It'll just be like a friggin fair and I don't think it'll hold any value anymore. So yes, that much of our culture we need to keep.

i know that there's people will try to do it the same as best as possible but there will always be that one lazy person who cant do it and always gotta alter it some way.

It's pity to claim yourself hmong when all is at a lost.

i believe tah some should stay and some should go. for example, like hmong wedding. i feel bad for the gurl when the parent charge the guy to pay for the gurl. i feel like we're selling the gurl. if we're going to sell her, at least lower the price. it's abt 7,000 dollars and really it should be 3,000 to 5,000. wat do the gurl's parent think, the other parent are rich. specially, not most of the hmong family. but other than tah, everything else at hmong wedding are fun.

They keep a price tag on hmong women so that hmong men will understand that having a wife is not easy, just the notion that his wife did not come free and so he have to treat her with respect and love. However, most men take this wrongly, thinking that they own her, her life. She's his slave...

Pricing around 7k is abit high but it's still not all that compare to 10k. Nothing wrong with exchange here.

true, but most guy don't treat us rite. just because they pay for us, don't mean tah we're their slave and will do everything they says.

hopefully..nothing changes..cause hmoob tradition is already solid and strong right now..its like changing the constitution in the U.S., it prob. change how the U.S is right now.

i think traditions are ok..and good to member but...they arent important in this changing world....sometimes i think its tradition that is hodl us down from real success in life....if you know what i m ean

i don't know if i want to change it... but it's changing little by little...

What is success that you are looking for? How is traditional/cultural values holding us down? I guess that's one reason why people convert huh? Becoming christians is a modern thing while being traditional is not, the "barbarism ways"?

Your only failure to climb the ladder is your own fault don't blame on traditions.

geez i didnt say anything about religion

like hmong people are smart but they do supid things
as tradition...we tend to get married at age 13-20 alot.. instead of going to collage and becoming a docter...
and as tradition we tend to live very close to each other in small cities...not going to the big places so we can make big money

geez if you really want to hold on to your tradition then go back to thailand/laos

like i said its good to remember our traditions, but not important in this ever changing world

Don't tell me to bag up and head to Thai/Laos when you can't do yourself either. May I ask why are you here? America never wanted us in the first place what makes you think they'll take savages, people who has no skills to contribute to their nation? It is with blood that we are here so don't be such a opprobrious dupe.

You are too ignorant to understand why peeps chooses to be the way they are. It is not because tradition are holding them back. It is them that are holding themselfs. I bet you were once like them too so don't deny it. Every hmong family wants their kids to be successful but it's the kids that are making their own decisions and because of the law, parents can not discipline their kids the proper way.

that's why u find one that'll love you and not make u a slave



i have to agreed but.. those hmong ppls who really know more than us should write it down ... wat the important stuff are...etc.. those who know it won't forget but if they can't give it out for others to learn it'll die... just like black ppls... they don't know they're using the white ppls way of life.. i'm sure they're culture is different where they came from...

the tradition is good for now....and yes the rule has it up and down but every other nation also had those up/down too...everything doesnt need to be PERFECT.

I'd say, KEEP IT. It's unique and it's what symbolizes HMONG.

TRADITION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU EVER CAN IMAGAIN....EVEN THOUGHT WE ARE MAKING BIG MONEY WE STILL KEEP OUR TRADITION..MAYBE YOU HAVE CHANGE BUT NOT ALL OF US...YOU CHANGE AND THATS YOUR CHOICE...WAT DO YOU MEAN SMALL CITY....I DON'T THINK HMONG IN FRESNO, STPAUL, MILWAKEE, NEW YORK OR SOMEWHERE ELSE THINK THAT THEY LIVE IN A SMALL CITY I MEAN OF COURSE ITS A BIG CITY...

i like our traditions....if we all lose it then wtf why are you hmong anyway...gotta be proud of our traditions that is what keeps us different from others.

If we lose our traditions, how can we call ourselves Hmong then? I wouldn't mind if there were some changes, like no more forced marriages and sex equality, but It would be wrong if the Hmong people lost site of their identity.

course i'm keeping my traditions. i like them, they're cool.

Its really hard not to change the traditions and culture of the old hmong ways because we live in america and not everything can be done the way it was able to in asia

Funerals will be hard to manage in the future because younger folks are spending more time hating on eachother then coming together. I guess if I could change it I would make it two days. First day for paying respect and second day for the final death songs and burial. Three day is all good also. As for weddings..... Man! that might need a whole new make over. It's like a bad costitution that badly needs to be re-written. Weddings are no fun or have any meanings to it. It's all garbage...sorry to say. Shaman ceremonies on the other hand is very fun with lot's of love going around. As soon as I have a kid, and that child catch a cold, Mr. Shaman come on over. Tradition is important but will always need to be re-written to fit the next generation. That how you keep it going.

i want to keep the old tradition..but i'll change the sexism....haha of course!

IMHO, being hmong means you speak hmong and read hmong and identify yourself as hmong.

being hmong doesn't mean you keep all the old traditions.

I fail to understand how learned and educated hmong people still keep tradition. They are just giving it lip-service, they don't beleive in any of it.

I say keep everything that is good and positive and dump everthing that is bad and negative.

The only thing I'll probably keep in the wedding. The shaman and old traditional funerals are out. It's not because i'm against. it's because the shaman thing is so much work and I'm to lazy to be cooking and trying to act like a wonderful cooking wife. As for the funerals, I have no knowledge at all about what is needed for one.

keeping it the way it is..but maybe some minor changes if i was to fall in the situation. lol

keeping hmong culture? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

keeping hmong tradition? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition

someone educate me in english

both the same? a little similar? or they both got something to do with eachother?

Are you sure being hmong means being able to write in hmong. most of the younger generations cant even count in hmong and ur saying that in order to be hmong you have to beable to write in hmong?

whats important is that we never lose our identity and that means we continue on our traditions. but of course in this world we live in we have to make changes to better suit our lives. what we have to be aware of is that change MUST not mean abolishment.

the way things are at the moment, i'd say the situation is a little shaky but its nothing we can't help if we just put our efforts into it. and by efforts i mean LEARNING those traditions ourselves and not just waiting for the elders all the time thinking "oh i've got time to learn this" or "ill never have to do this stuff" or "man i'm just gonna be non-religious when im an adult" our customs and traditions are very important because they give us our identity and we must know that.



if you cant speak the language, are u seriously still going to consider yourself hmong? hopefully what you said about 'most of the younger generations...' is not true and it is only 'some of the younger generation..."

writing is important, but it is not as important as being able to speak the language and speaking it well. for generations most of our elders had no knowledge of writing but their records have survived through oral teachings, so that proves that language is the strongest factor.

Agree and Disagree. Have you ever ask them why they preach? Have you ever ask why they chose the path they are now?

Let me tell you that one reason they preach is because it is the works of God.They want you to experience something that you wouldn't got a chance to.

For that Lady for does not attend the OS stuff. It is her beliefs, that it is not right to do something like that. In a Christian's commandment. Thou shall not worship others besides me (God). She sticks to the commandments. But, he goes both ways. So, you shouldn't be too surprised at something like this until you actually know one's religion. I believe that Shamanism is just a religion is not a culture (which I know that a lot of people will argue that) but honestly and personally I think it is just like being a Christian, too. If you are brought up with one beliefs, of course you will follow that.

People just need to open up more. Instead of bashing each other just because one's wants to preach and the other one wants to do shaman.

This is why it is stated that the one who will get hurt the most are the Christians because of their beliefs they get prosecuted the most.


Tradition? Culture?

Honestly, I say they both have almost the same meaning but at the same time they can be use separate meanings. It just depends how you want to get your point out.

For example, christmas tradition is something that is known to be doing all around the world. but, as part of a culture not everyone does it. you get what i'm trying to say?

in my opinon... keep what you like.. toss out or amend what you dont like! heehhehehe