zoom

English Class Graduation, Lao Family Community Center, St. Paul. 1981. Photographer: Michael Kieger.

The Hmong language did not have a written form until recently, making it difficult for veterans to learn English. Former President Clinton signed a bill in May 2000 that would give Laotians recruited by the CIA for covert military actions during the Vietnam War, and their spouses and widows, to take the citizenship test in their native language. The poorly drafted law excludes those who entered the United States before 1980. Most are Hmong, an ethnic group from the highland of Laos. The late Rep. Bruce Vento of Minnesota fought for the original legislation for a decade, finally winning passage of it a few months before dying of lung cancer. 

Although the law allowed for 45,000 people to become citizens under the relaxed requirements, less than 5,000 have been naturalized, according to Philip Smith, Washington director of Lao Veterans of America.

zoom

Group of Lao praying around a floral centerpiece (pha kwan), part of a Buddhist baci ceremony. Minneapolis Photograph Collection 1981.

Briefly the Baci or su kwan, which means “calling of the soul,”is a ceremony to celebrate a special event, whether a marriage, a homecoming, a welcome, a birth, or one of the annual festivals. A mother is given a baci after she has recovered form a birth, the sick are given bacis to facilitate a cure, officials are honored by bacis, and novice monks are wished luck with a baci before entering the temple. The Baci ceremony can take place any day of the week and all year long, preferably before noon or before sunset.