People among us 3: Hmong in Minnesota

Farmers markets are flourishing in Minnesota. There are three times the number of markets today than there was five years ago.

One of the reasons why is the Hmong farmers who represent about 70 percent of sellers at markets. I went to do a little story at one of the local ones last night, and I walked away with three bulging bags of vegetables. As journalists, ethically we aren't supposed to take anything tangible away from a story. So I protested for a good five minutes why I couldn't take an overflowing bag of zucchini, another of cucumbers, and another of green beans. The woman kept telling me, "you take. You take. It's our culture. We give. Yes. Yes. You take. Take for him." So finally I succumbed and took the bags while my photographer took what some would call the ethically high road. I took the polite one.

The Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia. While they are scattered over China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, most Hmong in Minnesota hail from northern Laos. Numbers I found estimate the population at 60,000 in Minnesota out of 150,000 in the entire US. They have a distinct dress and culture, and often you see several generations and extended family living under one roof. The Hmong fought with the US during the Vietnam conflict, which ultimately resulted in their migration away from their homeland. After the first wave in the late 70s, there was another resettlement here in 2004.

Most Hmong are around St. Paul, which claims to be the largest urban Hmong population in the world. Right around the corner from where I work, a group of visionaries are opening up a very large K-12 school. They have a waiting list.

Something I've learned covering them is that women generally have three names (first name + mother + father last name) and men have two (first name + father's name). Women do not change their names, but keep the name of their birth clan. There are several rules to this, and I don't understand all of them, but it's accepted for people to change their names with ceremonies or status throughout life. There are about 19 Hmong clans in Laos: Cha or Chang, Cheng, Chu, Fang, Hang, Her, Khang, Kong, Kue, Lor or Lo, Lee or Ly, Moua, Phang, Tang, Thao, Vang, Vue, Xiong, and Yang. Most people I interview have a combination of these names. Also, it's interesting to note that nearly half of the Hmong are Christians, and you see several Hmong churches around.

If you've seen the movie Gran Torino, which I highly recommend, you can understand some of the problems Hmong encounter in life here. The author actually wrote it about Minnesota, but it was cheaper to film in Detroit so they changed the story. As you know from an earlier post, most of the movie cast is local.