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The Hmong are divided in two sub-groups, White
and Blue, and to be found in mountainous regions
of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
 They
are the most nomadic of the tribes, villages
splitting and migrating to new areas to gain
independence and the term "eo" has become a
sort of collective name Thai people use for
describing the hill tribe people in general.
Wherever they
are they keep their traditions and as with
all the other groups the most important is
the New Year ceremony held at the end of the
agricultural cycle, which usually coincides
with the Christian Christmas or the new
calendar year.
Basically it can
be said that they have a desire to be left
alone, to be independent. They will fight
for space, for their future if they think it
is threatened. In Thailand they sided with
the communists because they were promised
freedom; in Laos they sided with the
anti-communist forces because communism
threatened their culture.
The Hmong live in houses that sit right on
the ground, not on stilts as do some other
hilltribes. However, the main floor of their
houses is not at ground level, but rests upon a
kind of above-ground basement or root cellar
that they use for food storage. For a long time
the Hmong have supported themselves by the
cultivation of opium poppy. Most of the Hmong
people are turning from opium growing, and are
now seeking to market their exquisite needlework
in order to supplement their income.
Hmong women traditionally make clothing for
their families from cotton or hemp. Their
clothing is richly decorated with magnificent
embroidery and silver jewelry. Blue Hmong women
wear beautiful pleated skirts with bands of red,
blue and white intricately embroidered. Jackets
are of black satin, with widee orange and yellow
embroidered cuffs and lapels. White Hmong women
wear black baggy trousers with a long wide blue
cummerbund. Their jackets are simple, with blue
cuffs. Hmong men make crossbows, musical
instruments, and other items of wood, bamboo and
rattan. Many of the men are als skilled in
blacksmithing and gunsmithing.
The Hmong are strict animists, whose shamans
use dramatic methods to contact the spirits. So
far there have been few converts to christianity
or buddhism.
The Hmong are diligent and independent
people, fond of wearing their silver ornaments
during ceremonies and much devoted to the sky
spirit they believe has created their own
ancient way of life.
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