After the Vietnam War, many Hmong people found themselves as refugees. The resettlement of some to the United States began in 1975, with multiple waves continuing until 2006. Today Minneapolis-St. Paul is home to the largest urban Hmong population in the world. The Hmong people in Minnesota have developed a strong and vibrant community in their chapter of the immigrant story in America.
May 21, 2004 - MPR’s Laura McCallum profiles Cy Thao, a legislator and artist, who has an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Hmong Migration" is a series of fifty oil paintings by Thao, and represent the unfolding of 5,000 years of Hmong history. Thao said he feels an obligation to tell the Hmong story, and to preserve it for generations.
June 3, 2004 - By the end of the 2004, the Twin Cities will have nearly 5000 new Hmong residents as they arrive from Thailand. They'll join the more than 20,000 Hmong who began arriving here in the 1970s. While this new wave of refugees will have some obstacles to overcome when they arrive, they'll have some advantages their predecessors never did.
June 21, 2004 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that the first group of Hmong from a refugee camp in Thailand are scheduled to arrive in Minnesota. They are among a group of 15,000 Hmong refugees expected to arrive in the U.S. by the end of 2004. A third of them are expected to settle in St. Paul.
June 22, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on a Chong Thao and his family as they arrive to the Twin Cities. The family had been living at a refugee camp in Thailand for over a decade.
June 25, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports that the Hmong refugees who arrived in the Twin Cities earlier in week have begun enrolling their children in school. Seven children were among the 11 refugees who arrived on Monday. Their father brought two of them to the student placement center for the St. Paul public schools to begin the process.
July 5, 2004 - On this Fourth of July weekend, MPR listeners are asked to call in with their stories about coming to America. Caller comments are interspersed between an interview with guest Senator Mee Moua, the first Hmong American elected to State Legislator. She speaks of living in refugee camps in Laos and resettling in the U. S.
July 6, 2004 - MPR's Jeff Horwich looks at the employment scene awaiting the state's new job seekers. After the struggles in a refugee camp and a 8,000-mile trip from Thailand, this wave of Hmong refugees will find a tight job market and a challenging U.S. economy.
July 15, 2004 - MPR’s Toni Randolph reports on shortage of Hmong funeral homes in the Twin Cities. A traditional Hmong funeral is a ceremony full of rituals, scheduled on weekends and lasting for days. Families now often have to wait weeks before burying their loved ones. A couple of new Hmong funeral homes will be opening, though they won't open for more than a year.
July 28, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil profiles Harry Yang, a Hmong immigrant who decided to leave Twin Cities for Walnut Grove and Southwest Minnesota, home of "Little House on the Prairie." Yang says he finds more freedom and peace of mind here, though challenges remain.
August 19, 2004 - A group of Hmong refugees who left St. Paul in June arrived in Washington, D.C. on August 19th, 2004, many of them on foot. Some walked the entire 1100 miles journey; others joined en route. MPR’s David Molpus talks with two involved in march.