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Hmong Culture Essay

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We chose this topic because we've always been interested in the Secret Army, General Vang Pao, Hmong culture, and its history. When we talk about the Vietnam war in school they do not mention anything about General Vang Pao or the Secret Army. This inspired us to pick this topic and teach everybody about Hmong history. In school, it is very mysterious that very few people know about the Secret Army and General Vang Pao helping the Hmong people cross into Thailand. Also, Vang Pao helped the Americans fight against the Vietnamese by teaching them Morse code to communicate and taught them guerrilla warfare. Vang Pao is a person who every Hmong person looks up too; every Hmong person thinks of him as their role model. This is why we chose this topic, because he took a stand by helping Hmong people cross the Mekong river into Thailand. …show more content…
Researching this topic was rather difficult and challenging. It was very hard to find primary sources since he didn’t write any books and he wasn't well known. Most of our information came from family members and websites. A group member in our group interviewed a person about their journey, about the war, and the crossing of the Mekong river. He interviewed his grandpa; he said they had to work together and rely on each other because it was so dark going through the jungle to find the river. There was not a single light was out there to give them guidance in search of the river. Not even the moon was helping them. There is also a Hmong fabric that helped us out on our project. It is a fabric that Hmong people sew to tell the story of their dangerous journey through the jungle; it is called a “paj ntaub” in Hmong. It is not a blanket or a pot holder, but it has people, animals, and a setting that tells a

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