DOCUMENT RESUME ED 270 509 UD 024 855 AUTHOR ... - ERIC

STAGES OF HMONG CULTURAL ADAPTATION 11drew. Their move formed a new conglomeration at TriosTub, another Hmong village with a garrison strategicallylocated in the mountains above the confluence of the NamOu (Lao: Ou River) with the Mekong, only twenty milesnorth of Luang Prabang. This conglomeration lasted sixmonths, during which time it was regularly surrounded byheavy fighting and suffered many casualties. Its numberscontinued to be swelled by more diverse groups whichjoined as they fled their earlier settlements and conglomerations.Finally, the civilians were flown out of Toos Tub toa safer destination, leaving the military forces to helpdefend Luang Prabang. They settled along the Nam Poui(Lao: Poui River), in an area that was across the MekongRiver from Moos Plais, toward the Thai border and aboutthirty miles southwest of the provincial capital ofSayaboury.4 The people flown in from Toos Tub joined asmall population of Lao and Hmong already in the area,which had not been appreciably affected by the war.Through further influx of displaced people, the populationin this new conglomeration eventually increased toeight thousand or nine thousand.Nam Poui was more systematically and more permanentlybuilt than the previous conglomerations in which itsnew residents had settled. Lao and United States aid officialslaid out the town in blocks.5 People from differentethnic groups lived in different parts of town.Within the Hmong section, the people originally from MoosPlais lived together and preserved the social structuresthey brought with them, under the same family and villageleaders.United States aid provided some animals for breedingand seed to plant both irrigated and mountain ricefields. Within a few months the people were growingtheir own food and were beginning to develop cash produce,primarily in pigs. The government and the Americanaid program extended a road into the community, helped inthe devel pment of irrigated lands and built publicbuildings, including a school. Lao, Chinese and Indianmerchants built stores and moved in.In many important ways the conglomeration at NamPoui was very different from the constricted and badlyoverpopulated larger conglomerations such as Long Cheng,in the heart of the war zone. Nam Poui had a similar23