About
Celebrating The Hmong People and Culture
ASLA Diversity Summit participant, Cheeneng Yang, ASLA, is pleased to tell you about Hmong people and culture.
Cheeneng Yang, or Chee, is an Hmong-American who was born and
raised in Wisconsin. Chee received his undergraduate degree in biology with a
minor in chemistry and obtained his master’s degree in landscape architecture
from the Ohio State University. After graduating, he moved to Minnesota to work
with the City of Saint Paul, Department of Parks and Recreation, Design and
Construction Division as a landscape designer/project manager designing park
amenities. Apart from work, Chee enjoys spending time with his three dogs,
watching movies, cooking, and being active outdoors.
The Hmong
are an ethnic minority group from the mountains of Laos. During the Vietnam
War, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited the Hmong to
help traverse through the mountains. The Hmong were hesitant to help, but the
CIA convinced the Hmong with the argument that if Laos fell under communist rule, there would
be no freedom. “Free” is what the word Hmong means. Convinced, the Hmong helped
with the war. The Hmong were promised asylum and protection if the U.S. lost the
war.
When the
war was lost, the US pulled out and left many Hmong to defend for themselves. As
allies of the United States, the Hmong hid in the jungles of Laos and fled to
Thailand for refuge from prosecution. Many were slaughtered and many drowned
trying to swim across the Mekong River. Those who made it to Thailand escaped
prosecution. The United States and other countries opened their doors for the
Hmong mid-late 1970s and early 1980s. As refugees of war, the Hmong assimilated
quickly to the American culture and branched out to many different types of
profession such as doctors, lawyers, politicians, engineers, landscape architecture,
architecture, and many others.
Take a virtual tour
of the Hmong Cultural Plaza, an open-air pavilion and stone garden with
the Phalen Regional Park China Garden. The Hmong Cultural Plaza is an
important element in the China Garden, because Minnesota Hmongs claim
Changsha as their ancestral home and a large Hmong community live in
the Phalen Park area.
Resources