Threads of Life - Hemp in the Hmong culture

a film by Susan Morgan and K.A.Culhane-Pera
distributed by Documentary Educational Resources

Hemp is very imporant to the Hmong people. In the olden days as retold by the elders, the Hmong wore white hemp. In the Ch'uan Miao folklore, when the Hmong fled their homeland, it was like a river of cotton in the distance.

The hemp technique is dying because the material that is used to make hemp is a type of plant, known to be made into illegal drug, "Marijuana".

When a Hmong person die, they must be dressed up in hemp clothes in order to journey back home to meet the ancestors. If not dress in hemp, the ancestors will not recognized as recited by the shaman who guides and directs the decease. When performing religious rituals, hemp is used to tie the spirit and human body together.

Hemp is a very important, cultural, spiritual and symbolic material for the Hmong people. It is the threads of life.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• hmong
• history
• miao
• hmoob
• hemp
• culture
• technique
• batik
• clothes

[jephboy]

Good thing William Randolph Hearst didn't live in China, or Hmong would have been banned from making our clothes and we've be wearing wooden paper clothes.

[smarthomebiz]

Thank you .

[LeeHyunJo]

When I was very young,

People could see a similar picture in Korea.

[evileva83]

Great documentary!