Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Interview With Dr. Gary Yia Lee, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Dr. Gary Yia Lee, distinguished anthropologist and scholar, traveled from his home in Sydney, Australia to California for a funeral, then made a stop to visit family in the Twin Cities. Tou Thao, his nephew, is an alumnus of Concordia University and a founder of the Hmong Oral History Project. He prevailed on his kind uncle, despite jet lag, the exhausting effects of a three-day funeral, and many, many demands on his time (including a presentation at Concordia University on 29 December), to sit down with me. I owe many thanks-and apologies-to Dr. Lee, his wife Maylee Lee, and the …

Interview With Dr. Dia Cha, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Dr. Dia Cha left Laos with her family in 1975 and lived in a Thai refugee camp until coming to the US in 1979. She commenced formal classroom studies in ninth grade, graduating four years later from Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, Colorado. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology in 1989 from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado, she went on to receive her Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1992. In 2000, she received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is …

Interview With Jim Anderson, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

James Anderson is Ramsey County Department of Human Services’ Planner for Immigrants, Refugees, and the Homeless. He spent about ten years working in Thailand in various capacities, helping Hmong and Cambodian refugees under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee.

Interview With Mai Lee, Mai Neng Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Mai Lee discussing Hmong culture and experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Mai Neng Vang.

Interview With Keith Vang, Paul Hillmer

Hmong Oral History Project

Keith Vang was born in Long Cheng, Laos, but his family left in 1972 for Vientiane. After the fall of Long Cheng in 1975, Vang’s family fled to northern Laos, where they lived until they surrendered to the communists in 1978. His family fled to Thailand in 1979. Keith’s father was a shaman, and much of his story tells of his father’s role as a shaman and the struggles his family faced when they came to the United States, converted to Christianity, and faced the growing demand by the local Hmong immigrant community for his father to return to practicing …

Interview With Poj Noj Her, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Poj Noj Her discussing Hmong culture and experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement and being the wife of a Hmong soldier who was also a prisoner of war.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang.

Interview With Long Yang, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Long Yang discussing his experiences during the "Secret War" in Laos in the mid-1960s to early 1970s as well as refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Chou Vang; translated and transcribed by Mai Vang.