Hmong History

The history of the Hmong people is really unknown but according to Anthropologist it is said that they are traced back to the early 18th century in China. For hundreds of years the Hmong Kingdoms fought with many Chinese dynasties to maintain their independency. Unfortunately, they were defeated and much was lost. The survivors fled to the mountainous regions throughout Southeast Asia, where millions of Hmong people still reside today. The Hmong are known as mountain people. They survive by hunting and farming up in the hills of Southeast Asian countries like Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and China.

When the Vietnam War broke out in the 1960’s, U.S. troops were forbidden from entering Laos, as stated in the Geneva Treaty. Therefore, the U.S. recruited and trained many young Hmong men to help them fight against the Communists of North Vietnam. However, due to the strict secrecy of the Hmong involvement in the war, this was later known as the Secret War. The Secret War was designed for, the now-trained Hmong soldiers to stop supply lines on the Ho Chi Minh Trial from the North to South Vietnam. The Hmong were also asked to help rescue any downed U.S Air Force Pilots and/or injured soldiers.

After the U.S. withdrew its’ troops from South Vietnam in 1975, the Hmong people were than faced with genocide. The Laos King was overthrown by the Pathet Lao (communist party) who supported the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong). They began prosecuting the Hmong people for their involvement with the U.S. in the war. Therefore, the Hmong people were imprisoned, tortured, killed and sent to labor Camps, where thousands perished.

After 1975, thousands of Hmong people began their escape to the refugee camps in Thailand. There they stayed until they would be resettled in another country. In the 1975 Hmong people have began to come to the United State until the end of the year 1993.