Looking for old hmong photos

[Dok_Champa]

Please share if you have them..

[Peachy Fish]

Magicofju, I love your photos.

[magicofju]

Thanks Peachy.

[Dok_Champa]

Thank you..  May I copy and save them for educational/teaching purposes later on?

[magicofju]

Dok_Champa that's fine.

[Reporter]

I was no longer in Ban Vinai in March 1980.

us kids and cousins at Woodward Park, Fresno, CA circa 1985


My uncles and my dad on the far right with me, circa March 1980, Ban Vinai Refugee camp taken before coming to the States, wow everyone must have photos like these in their family albums 


My mom and her sisters, 4th one from the right, circa 1988:


My Gmas, circa 1980, Missoula, Montana:


Gmas, circa 2009. At least my grammies still love me. The one on the left past away on Feb. 1st. 

[Reporter]

Please share if you have them..

Camp pictures or from Laos or  U.S. or anywhere? And for what?

[magicofju]

I was no longer in Ban Vinai in March 1980.

Of course I believe you got a decade ahead of me. You must have already came to the States with your family then. Right after I was born, we came in 1980. My dad along with one of his older brothers were the last to make it while two of them came in '76.

[Reporter]

Of course I believe you got a decade ahead of me. You must have already came to the States with your family then. Right after I was born, we came in 1980. My dad along with one of his older brothers were the last to make it while two of them came in '76.

We were already in Minnesota in March 1980.

So, did you come straight to Cal or did you somewhere else?

[magicofju]

We were already in Minnesota in March 1980.

So, did you come straight to Cal or did you somewhere else?

My grandmas, my mom's mom and some of her brothers went to Montana. But one of my dad's two brothers was already down in Santa Ana where his host family or sponsors were from, so my dad and my mom and our family went straight down to Southern Cali to follow my dad's older brothers. The rest of the families in Montana and Southern Cali didn't meet up or renunite in Fresno until 83/84.

[Reporter]

My grandmas, my mom's mom and some of her brothers went to Montana. But one of my dad's two brothers was already down in Santa Ana where his host family or sponsors were from, so my dad and my mom and our family went straight down to Southern Cali to follow my dad's older brothers. The rest of the families in Montana and Southern Cali didn't meet up or renunite in Fresno until 83/84.

I see. Yeah, some of our uncles were already in MN when we were still in Ban Vinai. So we asked to come straight to MN to join them. The INS permitted that.

For the Hmong, it's very normal to go where everybody knows your name. And they are always glad you came! So, every can cheer!!

[magicofju]

I see. Yeah, some of our uncles were already in MN when we were still in Ban Vinai. So we asked to come straight to MN to join them. The INS permitted that.

For the Hmong, it's very normal to go where everybody knows your name. And they are always glad you came! So, every can cheer!!

Well, Hmong families have always followed each other, whether to escape hardships, follow families or find better oppurtunities. The group that first arrived with VP had American sponsors too and because some of those uncles and aunts got to come first, they were then able to sponsor the remaining left behind as well.

[Reporter]

Well, Hmong families have always followed each other, whether to escape hardships, follow families or find better oppurtunities. The group that first arrived with VP had American sponsors too and because some of those uncles and aunts got to come first, they were then able to sponsor the remaining left behind as well.

I've noticed that wherever the Hmong ended up, they will eventually re-migrate to reunite with their relatives. Say, if some family got sponsored by an American family in New York, that family would soon relocate to MN or Cal or WI to be with their relatives.

But I wonder how the first families were feeling when there were no other families to run to.

[magicofju]

I've noticed that wherever the Hmong ended up, they will eventually re-migrate to reunite with their relatives. Say, if some family got sponsored by an American family in New York, that family would soon relocate to MN or Cal or WI to be with their relatives.

But I wonder how the first families were feeling when there were no other families to run to.

Yep. Hmong went wherever their sponsors lived and then when they found the rest of their relatives they remigrate to join their families. My dad has an older sister who her husband and his family went to Texas first in '78 before they found the rest of his relatives in the Central Valley of California in the mid 80s. Hmong people have always done things with their hands to make a living too, by farming, crafting, so a lot of Hmong settled or relocated to the San Joaquin Valley to farm. Those that knew how to use their minds or got themselves educated, "paub ua business, ua laj ua luam" moved out of the farming life and out to other states to find 9-5 jobs.

I remember grandma telling stories and of my mom's brothers when they first arrived in Montana. That it was sad and strange at first. It was too cold during some months. Their sponsors ate different foods, like bread and peanut butter. They wanted to kill a pig or pick leafy greens but couldn't communicate with them because of the language barrier. My grandma said that a lot of the elderly aunts were sad, staring out the window while making paj ntaub, crying, sad that they left some of their family behind or that some of them went missing.

I imagine the transition not easy for a lot of the first Hmong families.

The Hmong immigrants who came in the 90s and in the 2003-2005 had it easier than the first Hmong people who came back in the late 70s, early 80s.

[Reporter]

Yep. Hmong went wherever their sponsors lived and then when they found the rest of their relatives they remigrate to join their families. My dad has an older sister who her husband and his family went to Texas first in '78 before they found the rest of his relatives in the Central Valley of California in the mid 80s. Hmong people have always done things with their hands to make a living too, by farming, crafting, so a lot of Hmong settled or relocated to the San Joaquin Valley to farm. Those that knew how to use their minds or got themselves educated, "paub ua business, ua laj ua luam" moved out of the farming life and out to other states to find 9-5 jobs.

I remember grandma telling stories and of my mom's brothers when they first arrived in Montana. That it was sad and strange at first. It was too cold during some months. Their sponsors ate different foods, like bread and peanut butter. They wanted to kill a pig or pick leafy greens but couldn't communicate with them because of the language barrier. My grandma said that a lot of the elderly aunts were sad, staring out the window while making paj ntaub, crying, sad that they left some of their family behind or that some of them went missing.

I imagine the transition not easy for a lot of the first Hmong families.

The Hmong immigrants who came in the 90s and in the 2003-2005 had it easier than the first Hmong people who came back in the late 70s, early 80s.

The world must have seemed dark and hopeless and frightening to those first families. I feel their pains. Fortunately, they didn't kill off their families like those who recently did--because of domestic violence. Those first families worked hard and survived. I am proud of them.