This past Saturday, I had the fortune of attending a Hmong Colorado New Year Celebration that was sponsored by the Hmong Student Association and organized by the Lee Clan. This joviality took place at the Adams County Fairgrounds, in Brighton, which lasted for three days (November 28th-30th).

It was approximately 10AM, and I was driving down Henderson Road, which leads to the fairgrounds. My eyes grazed over the expanse of the dry, flat land, expecting to find a small group of Hmong people standing amongst each other with setups of tents and long tables. But no such setup was to be found. I began to suspect that mapquest.com has failed me by giving me incorrect directions. The area was quiet providing no hint of any sort of festivity taking place. There were a group of stable-like buildings on one side of the road that I decided to drive towards. By chance, I caught a glimpse of an elderly Asian couple getting off their minivan that was parked in a slightly populated lot. The woman was wearing an intricately decorated hat and decked in a black dress ornamented with brightly colored embroidery, which was enough to tell me that I’ve arrived to the correct place after all.

To say the celebration was held on fairgrounds is quite misleading because in actuality, it was held inside a building that resembled a large gymnasium. Families were gradually fueling through the entranceway. Most of the Hmong were dressed in variations of the unfamiliar, colorful costume that I had seen the old lady wear. Furthermore, they were adorned with chains of coins that struck against each other so that with each stride, the coins formed a rhythmic, light jingle sound.

Traditional clothing

I later learned that the traditional Hmong clothing carry great symbolic meaning. One major feature that embellishes this outfit is the pa ndua, which are textile squares of brightly shaded art designs stitched by the Hmong women. The patterns of pa ndua express the life of the Hmong and are a statement of their priorities in their culture. Many of the traditional pa ndua patterns contain important symbols for family growth and interrelatedness, health, wealth, power, religion, and to shield an individual from evil spirits. There are more contemporary pa ndua art that present American influence, such as utilizing colors of the American flag. As for the jewelry bedecked by the Hmong, they are made from silver to symbolize monetary importance. Today the aluminum is typically substituted for silver to make jewelry.

Traditional dolls

As I entered the gymnasium, I saw setups of long tables running directly left and right of the entranceway. At these tables, people were selling an assortment of cultural items. At one station a Hmong man had a large selection of music CD’s laid out. To attract the attention of his potential customers, he had a small boom box blaring out contemporary Hmong music. The song that was being played reminded me of some cha-cha music that my parents would listen to at home. About six tables down, another person was selling CD’s as well, promoting her products in the same exact fashion. Brightly colored items covered the other tables. They were mostly traditional clothing, hats, and jewelry. There were also accessory items, such as purses, that were decorated with pa ndua. Another item that drew my attention was Hmong dolls displayed at some of the tables. The face of the dolls was of an off-white color with deep, dark-brown beady eyes, round nose, and pink lips. They stood upright and were dressed in the traditional Hmong clothing. They were dolls that any little Asian girl would fall in love with, but whose mothers would rather have the dolls displayed in their family shelf along with their collection of trinkets. >> Page 2

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