The Hmong: Cultural Preservation Through Music
Directed by Alan Govenar and Bob Tullier
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About
Details: The Hmong: Cultural Preservation Through Music 1993, 5:40 minutes, color, Producer: Documentary Arts, Inc., Directors: Alan Govenar and Bob Tullier
The cultural life and traditional arts of the Hmong people in the United States are threatened by the pressures of acculturation. Since the fall of Laos in 1975 thousands of Hmong people have fled their homeland and have migrated to the United States. The largest concentration of Hmong is in the Central Valley of California, with other communities scattered around the country in cities such as Portland and Dallas. Over the last decade Bua Xou Mua has become a key figure in the preservation and perpetuation of Hmong traditional arts and folk life. Throughout his life Mr. Mua has been an active tradition bearer. He began learning Hmong oral poetic texts in his early teens in northeastern Laos. His repertory includes oral poetic texts that ritualize the language of courtship and the performance of the kleng (a free reed mouth organ with six bamboo pipes), the ncas (a metal mouth harp), the raj (a bamboo free reed pipe), and the raj tsaws (a bamboo fipple flute).
Video
Watch an excerpt from The Hmong: Cultural Preservation through Music
