L48 Anthro 3283 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Vang Pao, Hmong Language, Cash Crop

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16 May 2018
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Fadiman Ch. 10 (p. 119-139)
Hmong are mountain people
o Have many different words to describe mountains, and their different shapes and
slopes
o Rarely visited the plains; called the “land of the leeches” because of the greater
incidence of tropical diseases there
In the Hmong language there are hundreds of lyrical 2-word expressions that describe
various sounds
Hmong were farmers; everyone did the same work; no one was more important than the
other egalitarian society
o No one knew how to read, so no one felt deprived or inconvenienced by the lack
of literacy
o Just needed to know how to do the cultural and survival things
Master opium growers; opium reserved for ceremonial trances of the txiv neeb, to dull
pain, fevers, bites, aches and discomforts of old age; grew it as a slash-and-burn crop
o Mostly the chronically ill and the old people were addicts
o If you were young (most were male), you would be shamed; stigmatized by
diminishing ability to work; had hard time finding a bride, and even their brothers
and cousins would too
o It was their only cash crop; only kept 10%, sold the rest; perfect for mountain
transport; did not accept paper currency, only silver bars and piasters
o Opium production equaled wealth
Practice of swidden farming is intertwined with the migrant identity of the Hmong
o If village got overcrowded, or if the accumulation of garbage and feces started to
make people sick, then they would move
o Always moved in groups, rather than individuals, their clan structure, religion,
and cultural identity accompanied them wherever they went, making a sense of
“home” that inoculated them against perpetual homesickness
Geneva Accords of 1954 signed after the French lost a battle; recognized 3 independent
states: Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
Wanted Laos to remain neutral, but it didn’t for long
1965 the problem of Laos is the refusal of communist forces to honor the Geneva
Accords
Hmong guerilla during WWII; referred to as “Meo”
o Savage, didn’t hesitate to kill
o Defended the Royal Lao government
Hmong soldiers had lower standards than American soldiers; paid less, worse food
o Died at a rate 10x as high of American soldiers in Vietnam
Vang Pao colonel, highest rank a Hmong had ever obtained; a “charismatic,
passionate, committed man without a country”; served as a godfather and surrogate to
any widows and orphans; modern reformer who encouraged education, criticized slash-
and-burn farming, urged Hmong to assimilate to Hmong society
In the U.S. the conflict in Laos was called the “Quiet War” as opposed to the noisy one in
Vietnam
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