| Folk Arts - Hmong TraditionsThe Hmong Association of Washington has produced a New Year Celebration since 1976. In Laos, the New Year was a community harvest festival, marked by singing, dancing, feasting, and courtship games. In the United States, it has taken on additional significance, representing the celebration of the survival and renewal of the arts and culture of a refugee people now making the transition to a new cultural context. It is also one of the few opportunities the general public has to experience the rich Hmong artistic heritage. In addition, local Mien, Khmu, Lao, Thai, and Cambodian dance groups are regularly invited to attend and perform, so that there are increased opportunities for collaboration among artists of different cultures.
A typical Seattle Hmong New Year Celebration is a full-day event, opening with New Year welcoming songs and traditional toss-ball games in the morning. Traditional musicians, dancers, and singers perform throughout the day. Interpretive education materials are often distributed to the audience and presenters explain performances. In addition to viewing performances, visitors see demonstrations of such traditional Hmong crafts as basket making and needlework. The majority of the artists are selected from local Hmong communities. In many cases, these are the only surviving Hmong in Seattle who know traditional arts.
ArticlesHmong Community: From Laos to the Puget Sound The Hmong New Year: The Family and the Festival Catch the Good Luck: Songs for Hmong New Year The Hmong Language: An Oral Memory The Thread of Life: Hmong Needlework From a Hmong Village to America: Needlework Survives in a New World Hmong Dance: Traditions Continue through Hmong Youth The Muscians of New Year: The Qeej Players and a Contemporary Sound |