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HMONG
STORY CLOTH
The
large story cloth In this exhibit was made by three among women
while
they were in a refugee camp in Thailand waiting to come to the
United
States. The process of
embroidering the cloth took about one
year.
The cloth utilizes applique technique on its border, with layers
of
cloth forming gray and white diamonds and lines. Hmong history is
embroidered
on the cloth proper.
The
cloth tells the story of many forced Migrations and the
tragedies
of wars, as well as portraying the traditional agricultural
life
of the Hmong people. The
cloth begins its story in the upper
left
corner, with a scene of the Hmong being forced from China, around
200
years ago. Mote the swords and spears, old styles of weaponry.
Also,
notice the Hmong's traditional Chinese-type of clothing:
black
outfits
for the men with special hats; black blouses and colorful
embroidered
skirts for the women.
The
cloth continues to document the Hmong's migration and
settlement
in Indochina in the areas that are now the countries of
Laos,
Vietnam, Thailand, and Burma. Notice the rural scenes of life on
Hmong
farms. Different
types of plant cultivation are depicted,
including
rice paddies. Can you
find the farm animals? The
cloth
shows
pigs, a water buffalo (used for plowing], chickens, and a dog.
Can
you find the well?
Most of the other scenes on the cloth illustrate the Vietnam War.
The
Hmong living in Laos became allies of the United States in that
war;
they were very brave and they fought heroically. However, the
Hmong
who were loyal to the United States suffered when a cease fire
collapsed
in 1975. Many Hmong
villages were burned and the people
killed
by one of their enemies, the Pathet Lao. It is this event that
the cloth depicts. The
Hmong people are fleeing their villages. You
notice
on the cloth many long lines of people carrying their
possessions.
They are now refugees. You also can see 'horrible scenes
of
war: bombs falling from planes, civilians being shot; fighting;
people
trying to escape to a safer place.
The Hmong are trying to
cross
the Mekong River, which runs down the center of the story cloth,
into
Thailand to get to safety. The
names of places, mountains and
rivers
are shown on the cloth.
Once
in Thailand, the cloth shows the refugee camps... You see the
barracks
where the Hmong people lived while waiting to contact
relatives
in France and Thailand, or to try to immigrate to the United
States,
Australia or Canada. There is a scene on the cloth of Hmong
refugees
talking an oath and being processed by two officials at a
table
so that they can go to a new country.
One of
the happier scenes on the cloth is that of a modern city in
Thailand
and the airport. The Hmong
refugees board busses from the
refugee
camps and finally, get to fly away to a new country and
hopefully, a safer life, leaving the war and hard times behind.
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