How about the Hmongs?

Question

Simple survey.
Do you know anything about Hmong, people, culture, religion, anything?

Answer 1

Yes, I studied them in Anthropology. The Hmong are a group in southern China. Members of this ethnic minority must marry outside of their clans. When they marry the wife becomes part of the husband's clan. Polygamy is practiced by the Hmong, but mainly the upper class. Divorces are rare but recognized. Men get the male children in the event of a divorce. However, if the the wife committed adultery, the husband gets custody of all children. Men have authority over the family and women have the responmsibility of caring for the children and animals. Shaman are spiritual doctors among the Hmong that deal with what we consider mental illness. Shaman may be men or women.

Answer 2

I know quite a bit about them, since almost all my friends in high school were Hmong. I even started to understand what they were saying when they spoke in Hmong.



(By the way, Hmong is both singular and plural, like sheep.)

Answer 3

I heard about Hmong in LA one time who kidnapped a woman because that is how they pick a bride.

Answer 4

A bit. They were a group of people in Laos that the US recruited as guerrillas to fight Laotian and Vietnamese communists. They were mostly hung out to dry, but a number of them were allowed to migrate to the US.

That's about all I know, I'm afraid.