Threads of Survival
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1993.21.1
name: label: Director
content: Vander, Kathryn
place: label: Place
content: North America
label: Place
content: Southeast Asia
label: Place
content: United States
label: Place
content: Laos
label: Place
content: Thailand
topic: label: Topic
content: Weaving
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Kathryn Vander in 1993.
creator: label: Director
content: Vander, Kathryn
culture: label: Culture
content: Hmong (Asian people)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (25 minutes, color sound)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1991
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1993.21
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: Sound films
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound films
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Edited film documents the Hmong immigrants to the United States in their struggles to maintain the culture and traditions from their native Laos. Weaving and sewing of elaborate clothing and storycloths are depicted as the main vehicle for cultural transmission. Large tapestries on which pictures are stitched are used to tell a story. Attire such as belts, dresses and jackets become particularly important during the New Year Festival. Featured in a New Year celebration are the extensive preparations in making the finest clothes for the celebration, the ball game during the celebration which serves as a courtship ceremony for the unmarried youths, and a dancing festival. Various Hmong people interviewed also explain the importance of being dressed in one's finest clothing for burial as to please the ancestors of the deceased and to insure their generosity in the next life. Despite the many religious and ceremonial roles ornate weaving plays, many Hmong women interviewed identified the storycloths to be the most important use of sewing and weaving for their historical and sentimental values in helping later generations remember and understand the Hmong culture that existed in Laos. Storycloths also depict the treacherous journey of the Hmong refugees to Thailand during the Vietnam War.

John Prusak, Director of Photography ; Paul Locricchio, Sound Recordist ; Doreen Matthews, Editor

Legacy Keywords:  Dress makers Laos United States ; Clothing fashions industry, special styles Laos United States ; Sewing Laos United States ; Weaving Laos United States ; Looms hand Laos United States ; Festivals for New Years Laos United States ; Adornment Laos United States ; Design and patterns in decorative art Laos United States ; Decorations Laos United States ; Courtship Laos United States ; Assimilation Laos United States ; Death and rebirth in initiation ceremonies posessions after Laos United States ; Ancestor worship of Laos United States ; War economic adjustments to refugees Laos United States ; Refugees war Laos United States ; Story tellers Laos United States ; Myths texts of Laos United StatesDress makers Laos United States ; Clothing fashions industry, special styles Laos United States ; Sewing Laos United States ; Weaving Laos United States ; Looms hand Laos United States ; Festivals for New Years Laos United States ; Adornment Laos United States ; Design and patterns in decorative art Laos United States ; Decorations Laos United States ; Courtship Laos United States ; Assimilation Laos United States ; Death and rebirth in initiation ceremonies posessions after Laos United States ; Ancestor worship of Laos United States ; War economic adjustments to refugees Laos United States ; Refugees war Laos United States ; Story tellers Laos United States ; Myths texts of Laos United States

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.