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Between Two Worlds:
The Hmong Shaman in America

Hmong Homepage
from Understanding Global Cultures

(28 min., 1993 [1985], VC 2148)

see also
The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America

search Hmong on JSTORE

Highly Recommended:

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Anne Fadiman
NY: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1997.

Lia Lee is a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy,
whose family believes her seizure was caused by the slamming of a door by an older sister,
which caused Lia's soul to flee her body and the soul became lost to a dab.

dab, a spirit, is pronounced "da"
txiv neeb, a Hmong shaman, is pronounced "tsi neng"
(pp. 291-292)

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Abstract

"This classic film documents the Hmong refugees who have been transplanted from their agrarian mountain villages in northern Laos to cities in the U.S. Often living in high-rise tenements, they bring their ancient shamanic rituals and ceremonies to urban America. In such unlikely settings, trance-like healing and animal offerings are practiced as they were back home."

"The documentary captures rare and dramatic footage of the Hmong buying and sacrificing a cow in rural Illinois to save a sick baby in a metropolitan hospital. It shows the attempts of a missionary to convert a traditional Hmong family. It also explores an unexplained phenomenon (SUNDS) in which young Hmong men have died in their sleep for no apparent medical cause. Anthropologist Dwight Conquergood, well-known for his work with the Hmong, points out the similarity between their beliefs and those of the Native Americans." -- Filmmakers Library: Multiculture

Winner, UCLA Film Folklore Fest., 1986
Silver Plaque, Chicago International Film & Video Festival, 1985
Merit Award, Athens International Film & Video Festival, 1985

 

"Describes the art of Shamanism and the role of the Shaman in Hmong society. Examines conflict between the ancient religion and traditions of the Hmong and Christian practice and belief. Interviews Hmong living in Chicago." -- UMD Library

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Terms / Concepts

• shamanism
  
  
• trance
  
  
• religious syncretism

Notes:

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Cultures / Sites:

• Hmong
• Chicago
• Laos -- BBC
• Appleton, Wisconsin

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Individuals:

• Taggart Siegel, filmmaker
  
  
  • interview

References / Resources:

• Hmong Resources from Understanding Global Cultures
  
  
• Asian Shamanism
  
  
• Mee Lee, Hmong Herbalist
  
  
• The First Hmong Bookstore -- Hmong Arts, Books & Crafts
  
  
• The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America (58 min., 2001, DVD 538)