Hmong Textile Arts at
Harding High School

http://www.hmongnet.org/class/harding99

Student Group #6

Mour Vang, Mai Yang, Phoua Moua, Naly Thao, Choua Yang

About our group

Name: Mour Vang Mai Yang Phoua Moua Naly Thao Choua Yang
Age: 16 18 18 16 17
Grade: 11 12 11 11 11
Gender: Female Female Female Female Female
Hobbies: Listen to music, write, draw, cut people's hair take walks, make jewelry, a sales woman roller blade, dancing, drawing, collecting weird things, like to recycles baby-sit, singing, play volleyball and badminton listening to music, roller blade
Community Involvement: Secretary of Venturer 174 None Tutor children Hmong Thaj Yeeb, Galtier Nursing Home, Regions Hospital, Tutor the younger children volunteer, Hmoob Thaj Yeeb, Secretary of SEA Club

How we made the bookmark

How did she make the bookmark:

First, she start the design from the outside and work her way in. She started with the green string because it was one of the most use color in the our culture. "Next, when she was done with the outside of the fabric she changed to a different color string. She chose the neon red color, it was also the next most used color in the Hmong textile art. Then, she changed the color and used the neon yellow to go around in between the green and red. Finally, she sew some neon orange right in the middle of the design to brighten it.

The reason why she started out with the green and the red was because they were two of the most used colors and also they weren't as bright as the yellow and the orange. The attend was first attracted to the middle of the textile art. After looking in the middle of the textile art the view brings it out to see the whole art work. Since Naly Thao's mother does a lot of textile art around the house, she learned it while she was growing up.

The interactions we had with the elders

A lot of the interactions were through conversation. During the conversation, the elders would tell us stories about how hard life was back in Laos. They told us that making textile art was a never ending project. You always have to do it whenever your two hands are free. For example: while walking to the garden, they would sew and walk at the same time. Even some young gentlemen from other villages that came to visit them, they would talk and listen to them and still be making the textile art all at the same time.

We felt very comfortable around the elders, even though we didn't know anything about them. Weird, but to all the elders were like another grandmother that we had but never knew about. We even called them grandmother, never by name because it wasn't as polite.

It was a very educational having the elders teach us things we didn't know much about. While the time when they were teaching us how to make textile art, we were leaming many things along with it. For example: we learn how to talk to an elder, be mature, practice on speaking Hmong better, etc.

What I learned from "Hmong Textile Arts"

  1. It's a part of our culture and we wear the costume to celebrate at New Years.
  2. You work really hard for a new outfit each year.
  3. Tell stories and some of the creative Hmong ladies create new designs for the outfit.
  4. The importance of "Hmong Textile Art" is because it is a daily thing that us young ladies do in the past generations back in Laos. We work hard on the outfits for many reason5 we work on it because it is the outfit that we will be wearing for the upcoming New Year. It is also our wedding outfit too. Wearing a new outfit at the New Year shows the young men that we aren't lazy and that we can be good wives, it is a way of finding a good husband. There are also the "Quilted Arts" that gives us a story of how our ancestor lived back in Laos.

What "Hmong Textile Arts" at Harding means to us

Having a Hmong Textile Art class mixed with a Hmong class means a lot. It tell the community that Harding High school is diverse. It makes us special because we are the first public school in Minnesota that has a Hmong class combining with a Hmong Textile Art class. It's a new thing for us to do, but best of all, we're the first to do it.

Other comments

  1. It is the most exciting experience ever experience in a public school.
  2. It's good to have a class where you can learn more about your own culture. also it's a hands on class.
  3. I encourage other school to have this program, too. It's just not for fun, but very educational. Since time is such an important factor in everyone's life having it as a class is so great because you know it that you'll be learning the material, best of all, we are still learning and will be passing them down.

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