Hmong Dancers at Asian Culture Month Event
Date2010 June 14
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
Description2015.196.426.1-.2: Images showing a young man from the dance group playing the qeej, a reed pipe instrument central to Hmong music and spiritual activities. The geej is played while dancing.
2015.196.426.3-.6: Images showing young men from the dance group performing Hmong traditional dances.
2015.196.426.3-.6: Images showing young men from the dance group performing Hmong traditional dances.
Object number2015.196.426.1-.6
CopyrightIn Copyright
NotesSubject Note: In 2020, the State Department of Children and Families (DCF) was planning an Asian Culture Month to familiarize department staff with the variety of Asian community groups in Connecticut, and they asked CCHAP to recommend Asian performers. CCHAP suggested the Hmong dance group that had developed from the music and dance classes organized by the Hmong Foundation of Connecticut. This group performed at the DCF offices in Hartford on June 14, 2010.Subject Note: The Hmong Foundation of Connecticut became a separate organization in 1996 after the CT Federation of Refugee Assistance Agencies, an umbrella service group, disbanded. Hmong leaders started the Foundation as a way to keep the community together and continue to provide many kinds of needed assistance. The Foundation, which is led by a Board of Directors, is open to all Hmong living in the state. Members provide services such as translation, transportation, family relocation to CT, assistance with finding jobs and access to health care, Hmong language classes, and traditional Hmong advising and dispute resolution. All activities and services are on a volunteer basis with a small budget based on dues from members of the community. Cultural leader Boua Tong Xiong is a past president, as are Cha Lor, Heu Lee, and Shawn Moua. The group sponsors a Hmong New Year celebration in November and a celebration for Hmong high school graduates in June. The Foundation has received its non-profit status and developed by-laws. In the early and mid 2000s, the Hmong Foundation organized students from the community’s families to participate in language and culture classes as part of a Southeast Asian After-School Project that CCHAP developed in partnership with several communities with NEA funding. The Hmong Foundation provided teachers for the classes, presented the students’ work, and participated in project meeting with other partners. As part of this project, Hmong comedian/educator/activist from Minneapolis Tou Ger Xiong visited the community’s classes. The Foundation continues to serve Connecticut Hmong and to develop community activities.
Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to these artists.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
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Jampa Tsondue
2018 March 10
