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.I spoke with one woman who told me aboutHmong History and Culture51a violent domestic homicide that occurred in Laos.This incident still affects her family group and the grandfather’s descendants areforbidden to marry into the patri-clan of the guilty son-in-law.Overall, few if any firm patterns of alliance remain except patri-clan exogamy and ethnic group endogamy.The preference for cross-cousin marriage that existed in Laos appears to be fading rapidly in the United States.The term npawg has several meanings.In kin terms, it refers to the cousins of a different xeem, who may also be potential spouses.Accordingly its second relational meaning is “sweetheart,”but few Hmong-American people under the age of 25 know this “old”meaning of the word.In the United States, npawg is commonly understood to mean friend, in reference to any male of another xeem who is particularly close to the speaker.Children are viewed as both a blessing and a resource because they are the future link to other xeem groups and they help keep one’s own group strong.For the Hmong who adhere to native religious beliefs, children are critical because they will continue the duties and obligations to the ancestors, which are important features of Hmong spiritual life.Hmong men still assume these political and religious duties in the household.Because ancestral rites can only be performed by descending males, if there are no sons in the family, a lineage will be forgotten.As a result, many Hmong parents stress having one son or more to ensure the lineage and the physical and spiritual well being of the tsev neeg (Lee 1999b).Research VoidsGiven the importance of kinship in Hmong social life, why more is not written about this topic is puzzling.Previous research focused heavily on adaptation, health, and education.21 The following section details the ways Hmong-American kinship has been limned thus far by various researchers working in the social sciences and humanities.21For bibliographies of Hmong studies literature, see J.Christina Smith (1988, 1996).52Kinship Networks Among Hmong-American RefugeesJoanne Koltyk (1998) and Nancy Donnelly (1994) are the authorsof two important ethnographies about Hmong in America.Kinship is discussed only in relation to other features of cultural life and is not a central theme in either work.Koltyk’s ethnography is set in Wausau, Wisconsin and her primary focus is how Hmong refugees are adjusting to life in this rural, midwest setting with economic life and the minutiae of daily life as concurrent themes.The reader gains a simpleunderstanding of Hmong kinship networks and community becauseKoltyk devotes one chapter to family life.Included in this section are personal stories and testimonies about gender roles, secondarymigration, consumption, education and aspirations.Donnelly’s ethnography is about needlework cooperatives inSeattle.She writes extensively about women’s economic activities, leadership styles and preferences, individual strategies, family obligations, and personal disputes.Interestingly, she does not find that economic changes were driving social changes: “The goals of doing needlework had altered to include making money, and the social paths through which this was achieved had shifted to include women in trade, but the internalized cultural model for social organization remained in place” (1994:112).She finds that many aspects of the pre-immigration social structure were being reproduced, but that some practices, like marriage rituals, were modified due to external pressures.Gender and generational relations can be viewed as part of a larger system of evolving social relations.Donnelly (1994) and Goldstein (1986) have suggested values and behavior surrounding age and gender status may be integral to maintaining cultural and ethnic identity in Hmong communities.Both authors discuss Hmong women’s lack ofauthority in relation to Hmong men.Prior to immigration, filial piety also existed.If Hmong culture hinges on such hierarchies, as suggested by these authors, some interesting questions emerge.What happens when these relationships are challenged by mainstream culture or by members of the Hmong community? Does Hmong identity fall apart if such relationships are leveled? In other words, are patriarchy and filial piety essential to Hmong culture? In Chapter 5 and 6, I will take up these questions using some of the insights from participants in this study.Marriage in the Hmong community has been the central theme inearlier studies
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