Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-A University of Wisconsin-Platteville panel of Hmong students will educate students and the public about their culture at a panel discussion at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, in the Doudna Hall Little Theater.

Six Hmong panelists -Ger Vang, Sheng Vang, Fue Xiong, Ong Xiong, Yeng Yang and Zer Yang - talk about their Hmong heritage and the challenge of dealing with native and American cultures.

Wisconsin has one of the largest Hmong populations in the United States, along with California and Minnesota.

There are 23 Hmong students at UWP, said Pusaporn Tabrizi, who serves as both Hmong Club and Asian Students In Action Club adviser.

A native of Thailand, Tabrizi works closely with Hmong students on campus. "This is a new generation," said Tabrizi of UWP's Hmong student population. "They were either born here or came here as infants."

According to the Hmong Cultural Center, Inc., the Hmong people are survivors of a horrific history. Fleeing their native China in the 19th century, they settled in the mountainous regions of Indochina, specifically Laos, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam.

The long road to Indochina was fraught with danger and starvation, with many deaths and burials along the journey. Despite overwhelming hardships, many Hmong survived.

The Hmong endured further hardships when they fought in support of the United States against communism from 1960-1975. They then became a target for North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao when Laos fell to the communists after U.S. troops were pulled from Southeast Asia.

Pro-American Hmong were persecuted and many fled through the jungles of Laos to Thailand where they endured refugee camps to be placed in the United States, Canada and France.