Hmong Survivors: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Identity

Abstract

About 15,000 Hmong refugees from Wat Tham Krabot (WTK), Thailand resettled in the U.S. in the 2000’s. Since their resettlement, these families have lived in America for fifteen years. Besides knowing that they are the most recent group of Hmong refugees, it is unknown how Hmong parents of this cohort perceive themselves. This ethnographic study aims at finding the answer to this question by interviewing nine Hmong parents from the second wave. Results reveal that these parents’ perceptions of their identity are based on their socio-historical experiences. Their lived experiences across multiple countries, namely Laos, Thailand, and the U.S. play a vital role in their identity development. Aside from their refugee narratives, group comparison also inevitably plays a role in how they identify themselves. Subsequently, these parents do not want a nationality suffix, such as American or Thai, attached to their identity. Rather, these parents see themselves as Hmong Survivors, an identity that both represents their lack of a nation-state and their refugee background.

Keywords

• hmong
• identity
• immigration