Since tomorrow is #IndigenousPeoplesDay, here's a thread on the rich and badass history of Hmong people & Hmong culture by —an actual Hmong person—not from a Vietnam war textbook entry & certainly not from Gran Torino. #Hmong

Hmong people have orally passed down history through generations about where they first came from. One of the most impactful stories to Hmong origin is telling stories of the Land of Snow, hence, from the North Asian regions of Siberia, ~8-10,000 years ago.

Info North Hmong DNA:

Siberia is also regarded as the "heartland of shamanism," which is the primary spiritual practice for Hmong people from the past to the present day. The word "Shaman" also originates from Siberia. Hmong culture is deeply embedded in Shamanism & its Ancestral structure.

Between 4,000-3,000 B.C. Hmong people were documented living in the Yellow & Yangtze River, where they're credited as one the first groups to cultivate Rice & expand it as a staple across China + Asia.

The Hmong were the first group in China & had kingdoms throughout E Asia.

The Hmong are believed to inspire the Bronze Age in E Asia, specializing in Blacksmithing, Jewelry, & other metal works creating a Hmong renaissance age, but because of ethnic erasure & historical entries being burnt throughout history, much oral history is a primary source.

With the erasure of Hmong history & texts, we move on to the issues with Hmong & China. Though many conflicts resumed long before its documentation...particular dynasties that documented the ferocity of the Hmong people are found in texts surrounding the Ming & Qing dynasties.

During China's attempt to create a state, China enforced ethnic cleansing on the Hmong people. Destroying Hmong history, pottery, architecture in the early 1300s. Hmong people were enslaved, but China's attempt birthed countless of fierce and successful Hmong rebellions.

These Hmong rebellions were so powerful that China created a second great wall to keep out the Hmong people, known as the "Southern Wall." From the 1300s-1700s the Hmong rebelled against multiple Chinese dynasties, freeing themselves & reclaiming the locks created by the Chinese

To ensure that socio-political dehumanization would ensue, China began calling the Hmong: "Miao," a slur for "barbarian, animal, cat" the Hmong continued to refer to themselves as Hmong. Whereas you will still find to this day in China, the Hmong are still referred to as Miao.

In China, the Hmong faced many systemic barriers and were taxed heavily. This was also a big reason for Hmong rebellions. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Hmong were pushed out into Southern China, where they began their migration to Southeast Asia.

Millions of Hmong people migrated to different SEA countries. To clarify, the Hmong are *not* a nomadic group, rather, an ethnic group facing hundreds of years of persecution. Many Hmong people migrated to Laos, where they were seen as outsiders.

Lao & Hmong tensions were high, Hmong people were immigrants living in their own communities. The struggle to be accepted into the Laotion government became the issue focus for Hmong populations, as they struggled with prejudice & classism.

Because of this struggle to assimilate as recognized citizens in Laos, different Hmong political leaders arose, aspiring to achieve autonomy for Hmong people in the Laotion government. French colonialism was also taking place, & intersections of the Hmong & French relations began

Though the selected Hmong leaders began relations with Laos & France, as we know, colonialism hurt everyone in the process. Both the Hmong & Lao populations experienced significant colonial violence alongside Southeast Asia.

During the formation of the Communist Party of Laos, campaigns were made to form a sense of unity among all peoples in Laos. The faces of Hmong people were printed on Postal Stamps, but this campaign only masked the discrimination and prejudice that the Hmong continued to face.

Pressing forward to the Vietnam & Secret War 1960's, the Hmong were hurt significantly throughout it all. As the CIA worked to recruit Hmong soldiers as young as 5 years old, establishing the Ho Chi Minh trail in pursuit of creating some kind of Hmong sovereignty—

— other Hmong groups backed the communist party in hopes of strengthening domestic political ties and autonomy. Despite any ideology, in the end, nearly 2/3 of Hmong people were killed, wiping the population down from millions to just a few hundred thousand.

The many Hmong populations fled seeking asylum in the United States. Bringing us to the present day. In nearly 40 years, the Hmong people are one of the most recent waves of refugees to come to the U.S. — large pockets residing in states like California, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

In the media, no one has clearly captured who the Hmong people truly are. The view of Hmong people is heavily exotified to fit narratives that Hmong people are not given the pen to write.

Growing up Hmong, the image of my identity was also altered, tested, washed, & tried.

Hmong people aren't just "Hill people" like screenwriters have lazily attempted to portray. Hmong people don't need to be mystified for you to pay attention to their narratives.

And they are so much more than a deck of cards in the Vietnam war.

Throughout hundreds if not thousands of attempts to erase Hmong people in history, what's true is that we've continued to be here. Our diaspora is more connected than before, and our ancestral wisdom has only guided us further.

& I'm looking forward to where we're going.

Source: I'm Hmong. As an indigenous person, I don't need you to "uncover/discover" shit for me

& Fuck Christopher Columbus
#IndigenousPeoplesDay #Hmong #HmongPeople #HmongHistory

Also pls keep in mind that Colonization is not just from yts! There is mass colonialism from East Asia, much of which the Hmong have experienced alongside French colonialism.

Though Hmong people have faced thousands of years of erasure, as refugees we are also settlers in the US & need to show up for First Nations peoples!

Please Donate to this Native American Org Migizi! https://www.migizi.org/support-us 

Native American women are MISSING, and we need to find them!

Sign this Petition: https://www.change.org/p/donald-j-trump-mmiw-missing-murdered-indigenous-women

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