The Hmongs

       The members of the Hmong tribe participate in many different rituals.  During the last few classes we have learned about the traditions of Native American tribes, and their way of life.  The Hmong’s are very particular about the process and the rituals that are preformed during the birth of a child.  “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman is an informative novel that is a form of folklore.  Since these traditions are taught to be truth and are passed down from generation to generation it is known to be a sacred legend.  The women in the Hmong tribe are very independent and strong.  During childbirth they birth the child, nurse the child and nurse them selves without the help of anyone.    Even though the women in the Hmong tribe are independent and strong they are inferior to the males in the community.  Its starts at birth when the burial of the placenta takes place. If the child is a girl her placenta is buried in a less important part of the house like under her parents bed, opposed to if the child was a boy and his placenta would be buried by the post of the house which keeps the house standing for he will one day be the foundation and the head of his house.  Immigrating to the United States drastically changed their traditions of childbirth. The mother was unable to give birth to the child by herself, she was taken to a local hospital.  She was also unable to burry the placenta or wash the baby herself.  This story relieved the difference if importance between the Hmong tribe and Americans.  No one in the Hmong tribe knew how old they were.  The mother didn’t even know how many months she had been pregnant.  These facts are important to Americans.  The Hmong’s first child to be born in the United States was their daughter Lia.  Throughout her young age Lia became very ill. The Hmong’s believed that because they were unable to complete some of their traditions than that was the cause of her illness.  They were unable to burry her placenta, the mother was unable to give birth by herself, and she was unable to eat all the traditional foods.   The unfortunate illness of their daughter led them to have stronger faith in there religion and scared teachings.  As an American we don’t believe in their traditions so we interpret Lia’s sickness to be caused by her mothers health conditions.