PRX REVERSIONING PROJECT

HMONG FUNERALS

BRIAN BULL, WPR

Lead :30

Since the late 1970s, thousands of Hmong [“mahng”] immigrants from southeast Asia have settled into the U-S. The conflict between assimilating into the American culture while keeping traditions has Hmong elders particularly concerned, as they watch their grandchildren skateboard across town, listening to I-Pods and eating Big Macs. This concern even extends towards the afterlife, as many older clan members want a traditional Hmong funeral. As Wisconsin Public Radio’s Brian Bull reports, it’s a demanding ritual:

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[FADE UP GENERAL BANTER OF RELATIVES SLOWLY UNDER OPENING -- HOLD]

Inside the Hmong Funeral home in St. Paul, Minnesota a shaman sings over the body of Ying Xiong. [FADE UP FAST ON SHAMAN SINGING – HOLD FOR 2-4 BEATS, BRING UNDER REST OF TRAK] She lies on the floor, dressed in an ornate red and blue robe, tied with a thick sash. A small crossbow lies next to her, to protect her soul from evil spirits. The shaman empties a bottle of beer into a plastic cup, and places it near her as an offering. A relative, Kao Xiong, explains the shaman’s song:

KXIONG2: “Right now he singing to the spirit…to heaven. Right back to where she originally from, to her grandfather or grandmother….he’s directing to where she originally from, back in Laos or Thailand….” (:15)

Nearby, relatives tear red strips of cloth and wrap them around their wrists, to keep their own souls from leaving their bodies during the ritual.

Family members say Ying Xiong lived to be between 100 and 105. Her funeral warrants four full days of ceremony. Her grandson, Kao Xiong says she deserves this honor because she was an elder in the community:

KXIONG1: “In our culture, age is very important. If you’re older, you’re considered wise. Full of knowledge, it requires a lot more days to honor you. And more people are gonna come and pay respects to you, so that’s why it takes four days.”

Four days may seem long….but in southeast Asia, Hmong funerals can last a week. But since life in America means a 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday schedule this means cutting down the time….while stepping up preparations.

[FADE UP QHEEJ MUSIC AND DRUM]

Later that night, the Hmong funeral home is shrouded in a fog of incense and cigarette smoke. Mourners steadily stream into the blocky gray building, many bearing bouquets and wreaths. Inside a crowded parlor, one man plays a bamboo reed instrument called the qheej [KHENG], while the other beats a drum. When they tire out, other Hmong players will step in, so that the music lasts for the entire ceremony.

[hold up post of 3-5 secs here]

Several thousand people from the Hmong community are expected to visit the home during the ceremony. There’s a solemn, yet casual air in the way they talk and dress. The mourners wear khakis, windbreakers, and baseball caps. Some cry and wail. Others laugh and visit.

[POST OF CHATTER]

The closest relatives will stay in the Hmong funeral home all four days. Many stay near the body fighting sleep. Sometimes they take a break and go to the funeral home’s dining hall to play cards and visit with other mourners.

[AMBI OF CARDS BEING SLAPPED DOWN, WHOOPS OF JOY AND LAUGHTER]

Family members cook for everyone. Down the hall in a cramped steamy kitchen, there are huge kettles of rice and four of Ying Xiong’s relatives are busy cooking meals for almost a hundred people.

WOMAN: “I think this will be lunch. We cook almost two meals a day…”

There’s also meat that will come from animals sacrificed for the service. It’s believed that a rooster can see a dead person’s spirit, and when the bird is killed, its spirit will protect and guide the deceased in the afterlife. The cow is another companion. It can be used as a dowry for Ying Xiong to get a new start.

Back home, the Hmong would have sacrificed these animals next to the casket. But American funeral codes have forced change. Sue Xiong -- who’s not related to the other Xiongs mentioned in this story -- owns the Hmong funeral home.

SXIONG01: “The animal usually we …not really bring to kill here, we do butcher shop, do over there, then just bring their meat here and cook.”

It took awhile for the Hmong to change the way they sacrificed their animals for funerals. Their old practices became a problem, when early waves of Hmong began coming to the United States thirty years ago. At first, the immigrants had no choice but to use American funeral homes. Confusion quickly followed. Paul Johnson is a former staff member at Bradshaw Funeral Homes in St. Paul. He remembers one of the earliest experiences he had with Hmong funeral rituals, during a visitation:

PJOHNSON01: “"A man had come, and he had a jacket on. And underneath this jacket there obviously was something that was moving around. And lo and behold, it was a chicken. And the man said that it was very important for this chicken to be a part of this whole experience, and in fact, what he had wanted to do was to kill the chicken right there...." (:23).”

The mourner was not allowed to kill the bird, but Johnson says the incident helped the Bradshaw staff begin to grasp the complexities of a Hmong service. The funeral home wanted to help the Hmong honor their dead, so when a family showed up later with a cow in the parking lot, the staff improvised a way to unite the animal to the deceased:

PJOHNSON02: “We didn't allow them to kill the cow, but we did allow them to tie a rope around the neck of the cow. The rope then extended from the cow all the way into the building -- the other end of the rope was tied around the wrist of the man in the casket. That was enough for them to believe, that okay, now the man will be carrying the dowry of this cow with him into the next world." (:24)

LTHAO01: “I don’t know much about the practices even though I believe in the system.”

For Lamont Thao, who has grown up in America, the Hmong funeral is very complex. Thao is in his mid-thirties, and brother-in-law to the deceased. He says keeping the old ways alive is a challenge.

LTHAO02: “And not many of the younger generation know about it, and even my generation…even though I practice the cultures, it’s very complex to understand it. Even my dad is one of the spiritual elders, and I’m still learning everything. It’s hard to know that we won’t know all of the…I don’t think I’m ever going to learn all of it.”

But even though he doesn’t fully understand the practices, Lamont says he’s pleased that the service for Ying Xiong is going so well:

LTHAO03: “I think she’s had a full life, and we’re very happy to give her the last respects. A lot of people attending….I think it’s as perfect as can be.”

[SLOWLY FADE UP HMONG FUNERAL FINALE – WORK IN CUT WITH WOMEN CRYING]

It’s the fourth and final day of the funeral. The musicians play on, as a row of women stand beside the casket, weeping and dabbing tears away with handkerchiefs. The music pulses through the room, filling it with a vibrant, driving energy. And then, suddenly…it stops.

[FINAL DRUMBEAT, THEN SILENCE. HOLD FOR 3-4 BEATS, BRING UP CEMETERY AMBI OF BIRDS, RUSTLING]

An hour later, Ying Xiong is brought to St. Paul’s Oakland Cemetery. A group of men remove all metal handles, hinges, and plastic fittings from her casket, so that only pure organic materials rest in her grave. [BRIEF AMBI OF TALKING, CLANGING]

Finally, she is laid to rest under a tall oak tree, among other members of her community. The wind rocks the lush, sunlit branches above. The funeral is complete. Her family is pleased that while she has left this world, she has been born into a new one, with wealth, vitality, and guidance.

Ying Xiong’s cousin, Dao Xiong:

DXIONG01: “We believe that when a person is born, life is very important. And we should celebrate life”.

For the PRX-dot-org Reversioning Project, I'm Brian Bull.