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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2023)
December 4, 2023 U.S.A. THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 11 In the U.S., Hmong “new year” recalls ancestral spirits while teaching traditions to new generations By Giovanna Dell’orto The Associated Press S T. PAUL, Minn. — For the annual fall renewal of her shaman spirit, Mee Vang Yang will soon ritually redecorate the tall altar in her living room where she keeps her father’s ring-shaped shaman bells. She carried them across the Mekong River as the family fled the Communist takeover of her native Laos four decades ago. Today, they facilitate the connection to the spiritual world she needs to help fellow refugees and their American-raised children who seek restoration of lost spirits. “Like going to church, you’re giving beyond yourself to a greater power,” said the mother of six through a translator in Hmong. It’s the language spoken for the most important spiritual celebration in the Hmong calendar, the “Noj Peb Caug” — translated as “new year,” but literally meaning “eat 30,” since the ceremonies traditionally were tied to the fall’s post-harvest abundance shared with the clan and offered to spirits. During new year, which is celebrated mostly in November and December among Hmong Americans, shamans send off their spirit guides to regenerate their energy for another season of healing. Male heads of households who embrace traditional animist practices perform soul-calling ceremonies, venerate ancestor spirits, and invoke the protection of good spirits. “A traditional Hmong home is not just a home, but also a place of worship,” said Tzianeng Vang, Vang Yang’s nephew, who came to Minnesota as a teen and grew up a Christian. He’s among the community leaders trying to divulge knowledge of these animist traditions so they won’t be lost for his children’s generation. “You preserve it here or you have nowhere,” he said. Persecuted as an ethnic minority in their ancestral lands in China, the Hmong fled first to the mountains of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. There, tens of thousands fought for the United States in the Vietnam War. When Communist regimes swept the region, they escaped to refugee camps in neighboring Thailand and, starting in the mid-1970s, resettled largely in California farm country and Minnesota’s capital city. The majority of the approximately 300,000 Hmong in the United States are animists and believe that spirits live throughout the physical world. That includes multiple souls in a person — any of which can leave and needs to be ceremonially called back, said Lee Pao Xiong, director of the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University in St. Paul. But many younger Hmong haven’t learned the spiritual significance of cultural traditions, even popular ones like the Thanksgiving weekend dance, music and craft performances in one of St. Paul’s largest entertainment venues, Xiong said. “It’s intricate, it’s not just ‘go to church and pray.’ There are all these spirits to atone to. It’s about spirits that you have to appease,” said Xiong, who teaches classes about these traditions, which often include the ritual slaughter of cows, pigs, or chickens as an offering or an exchange of HELP FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY GAMBLI NG Habit Check Habits can bring positive momentum to our lives. They help us do regular tasks without devoting too much mental energy to them. But for the same reason, habits can cause us to prolong behaviors that no longer serve our best interests. If gambling has become a habit for you — or a loved one — help is available. Change Your Habit s w it h OPGR If you want to change how you gamble, reach out . Oregon Problem Gambling Resource (OPGR) has trained counselors who specialize in supporting people affected by gambling. They can help you explore new choices and get you back in the driver’s seat when it comes to gambling. Call, text or chat . You can feel better about gambling — starting today. NOJ PEB CAUG. Mee Vang Yang holds her fa- ther’s ring-shaped shaman bells in front of the altar in her living room in St. Paul, Minnesota. Vang Yang car- ried them across the Mekong River as the family fled the Communist takeover of her native Laos four de- cades ago. Today, they facilitate the connection to the spiritual world she needs to help fellow refugees and their American-raised children who seek restoration of lost spirits. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’orto) spirits. On a farm north of St. Paul, Moua Yang runs the hog butcher shop he started working on with his father when he was a child. Community members can perform rituals on site before the animals are killed. “To me, it’s a service to the community. Because they feel it’s for their wellbeing,” said Yang, who is Christian but employs up to 20 workers on weekends to field the dozens of requests for different Hmong ceremonies. On a recent fall afternoon, Sai Vue took his three boys, ages 6, 4, and 3, to choose a pig there and have it slaughtered to pay back his ancestors for answering his request for help — though most of the nearly 200 pounds of pork will also feed the family for two months. Meat is especially important for new year dishes, since it was considered a rare delicacy and thus propitious for wealth in the agricultural Hmong society. “It’s ingrained in me,” said Vue, who was born in St. Paul. But he wants his boys to be comfortable with the spiritual customs, “so when they grow up it’s not a big surprise.” That same day, the Hmong Village indoor market on the outskirts of St. Paul was bustling with families scouring the Continued on page 12