For preparation to be culturally responsive towards this culture I will educated myself about their country’s history,food,religious beliefs, gender and societal roles. I hope that these preparations will benefit both me and the family by allowing me an understanding of the family’s cultural ways. These understandings can help me when conducting parent conferences; in addition to preparing lesson plans supporting family traditions.
Country’s history
We have a community of the Hmong culture, so for the students and their families I have chosen the Hmong people for my study. The Hmong are an ethnic group in several countries and through my research I learned their ancestors are originally from the southern mountainous part of China. I learned they are very proud and independent people. And after some taxation laws in the early Dynasty’s they rebelled and began moving into the countries of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. The Americans recruited many to fight against communism in 1960’s. Throughout history, the Hmong have remained identifiable as Hmong because they have maintained their own language, customs, and ways of life while adopting the ways of the country in which they live. In the United States, new generations of Hmong are gradually assimilating into American society while being taught Hmong culture and history by their elders.
Food
Their food is very bland that consist of vegetables and spices. They also believe in very healthy food that helps heal the soul.
Interesting facts: "Hmong people have always lived and harvested the land that nourishes them." They grew lots of vegetables and ate fresh meat with few sauces. Dishes were spiced with aromatic herbs."Our diet was always very lean," Vang says.
Mustard greens, bitter melon, pepper, ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, green onion, green papaya and homemade tofu - these are key ingredients to the cooking she knows. (And, for the record, hot chile - which many Americans would find far from bland.)
Vang speaks of an herbal chicken soup, nqaij qaib hau, a dish every mother understands. Hmong women eat this soup every day for a month after the birth of a child. The Hmong say the herbs, some of which have no English translation, help strengthen the blood and increase the production of breast milk.
Religion
Contemporary Hmong people cannot be characterized as subscribing to a single belief system. Missionaries to Southeast Asia converted many Hmong people to Christianity beginning in the 19th-century and many more have become Christian since immigrating from Southeast Asia to the West. However, most Hmong people, both in Asia and the West, continue to maintain traditional spiritual practices that include shamanism, and ancestor veneration.
These spiritual beliefs are combined with their beliefs related to health and illness. In traditional Hmong spiritual practices, one does not separate the physical well-being of a person from their spiritual health; the spiritual realm is highly influential and dictates what happens in the physical world. According to these beliefs, everything possesses a spirit, both animate and inanimate objects. There is a delicate balance between these two worlds, thus the necessity to revere and honor the ancestors for guidance and protection. The spirits of deceased ancestors are thought to influence the welfare and health of the living. Individuals perform rituals which include the offering of food and spirit money, pouring libation, and burning incense to appease the spirits and earn their favor.
Gender Roles
The male gender is recognized as the dominant figure in the Hmong culture. Role of the male head of the household does the worshipping of ancestral spirits. Clan (xeem) remains a dominant organizing force in Hmong society.
Societal Orginization
Clan membership is inherited upon birth or occasionally through adoption. All children are members of the father’s clan, through which they will trace their ancestors. Women become members of their husband's family upon marriage but will retain their clan name of their father.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_customs_and_culture
http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/85002642.html
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