Hmong quilts -- pa ndau -- reflect Hmong history

By Jean H. Lee, Associated Press Writer

   FRESNO, Calif., June 21 (AP) -- The intricately stitched quilt hanging
in the student center at California State University in Fresno holds
thousands of years of Hmong history and culture in its multicolored
threads.
   Scene by scene, it tells how the agrarian Hmong, pushed from China in
the 1800s, trekked south to the mountains of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam. It tells how those in Laos fought the communists as mercenaries
hired by the CIA in the 1960s and how they escaped to Thailand when the
communists took over in the 1970s.
   It tells how nearly 30,000 Hmong ended up resettling in Fresno and how
they've adapted to American life.
   Called "pa ndau," or flower cloth, the 8-by-10-foot quilt is a modern
example of a cherished and revered art.
   "To the Hmong, pa ndau is just as important as the American flag is to
the American people," said Thong Ly, a student. "The pa ndau is the Hmong's
freedom banner."
   The Hmong lived peacefully in the forests of China for thousands of
years until the 19th century, when rulers launched a campaign of
persecution to extinguish the Hmong language.
   "The Hmong women, in order to preserve the language, put it down on the
pa ndau," Ly said. "For the Hmong women, pa ndau is a way for them to
express themselves."
   The quilt shows how thousands of Hmong ventured to Southeast Asia, where
they began raising livestock, weaving baskets and stitching the colorful
garments decorated with pa ndau.
   They embroidered geometric shapes onto the backs of their shirts, one
group employing indigo batik and another specializing in reverse applique.
They stitched funeral garments for burials and carriers to hold babies.
   And when the Hmong eventually lost their written language, the pa ndau
became a form of documentation.
   "The pa ndau was the only way for Hmong people to retain their cultural
identity," said Shur Vangy, a deputy city manager.
   Katsuyo Howard, coordinator of Fresno State's Southeast Asian Student
Program, commissioned artist Kau Vang to design a story cloth showing the
heritage of the college's 1,000 Southeast Asian students.
   Vang, a Fresno City College student who spent most of his youth in Thai
refugee camps, learned about the rituals from his father.
   Kidnapping, he explained, was a common method of winning a bride. And in
one scene, a newly married couple leaves the ceremony with a pig -- a
traditional wedding delicacy -- jutting out of a knapsack.
   The quilt shows how the Hmong cremated the dead by lighting branches
piled on top of the body and how they celebrated the new year with bull
fights and courtship games.
   During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited the Hmong to fight the
communists. When the United States withdrew in 1975, many Hmong --
including Vang's family -- fled Laos because they feared persecution from
former enemies.
   One scene shows parents trying to appease hungry children during the
arduous trek across the border.
   "If they make noise because they're scared, we give them some opium,"
Vang said.
   At a refugee camp in Thailand, Vang learned to embroider his lively
drawings to bring in extra money.
   "When we got to Thailand, we had nothing to do," Vang said. "So we
learned to sew."
   Beginning in 1975, some Hmong were allowed to resettle in the United
States. More than 150,000 Hmong since have emigrated, most to California,
Minnesota and Wisconsin.
   The bottom third of the story cloth is devoted to life in America, where
apartment complexes and grocery stores replace the thatched homes and
jungles of Hmong life past.
   The quilt shows that many Hmong have adapted customs: some perform
ancestral worship rites in their living rooms, and others don traditional
costumes during the Hmong New Year.
   It took Vang a week to sketch the scenes with a ball point pen. His
wife, mother and two friends helped with the stitching. When the quilt was
three-quarters done, Vang sent it to his sister in Wisconsin to have her
finish it.
   It never arrived.
   Vang started over again, the second time adding scenes telling a more
realistic tale of Hmong-American life: Next to scenes of thriving
strawberry farmers and college students are a drive-by shooting and gang
members stealing tires.
   "We have two kinds of Hmong. One kind just hangs around and another kind
wants to change their lives," Vang said.
   As Hmong-American students pored over the quilt, some laughed at scenes,
such as one of a young couple embracing and another of students sitting
transfixed in front of computers.
   "This pa ndau is really history in the making," Ly said.
   Others said the story cloth was important for young Hmong Americans who
have few ties left to the highland culture.
   "I was carried in a pa ndau baby carrier when I was born," said Joe Lee,
president of the Hmong Student Association. "It means my heritage, my
culture and my life. It is an art that never dies."