First Gen Hmong Shaman
Among being the first generation Hmong in a lot of things like education, politics, and career, we also have one of the first generation Hmong shamans who were or are born in America. I'm not talking about Hmong shamans who immigrated here. I'm talking about the Hmong people who were born in the United States who are actual shamans themselves. They are known as the first Hmong American shamans. I, among with a lot of other Hmong people, are first generation Hmong "American" shamans. Think about that for a minute. We are the very first Hmong shamans to be born in America. That's crazy!
There's a lot of talk and conversations around how different today's Hmong shamans are. We start to see an immersion of different ideas and perspectives in Hmong shamans and their rituals. Many incorporate Chinese beliefs; many include cosmology and astrology, some include Buddhism, and some even include Christianity as a part of their Hmong shaman identity. It's no secret that Hmong shamans today aren't like who they were a generation ago. As compared to Christianity, Catholicism, and many religions in the world, thank goodness it's not like it use to be 10, 20, 50 - 100 years ago! It would be crazy to think that Hmong shamanism should still be the same as it was with our grandparents and generation before. As with time, technology and the medical fields makes advances! People become more aware and educated on health issues. If someone went blind we wouldn't perform a shaman ceremony, we'd take them to the ER! In fact, I would suggest medical help before turning to shamans for help. It doesn't discredit Hmong shamans for their role in the community. But instead it gives Hmong shamans the opportunity to perform rituals that truly do involve a spiritual nature.
New wave shamans differ in a lot of ways than from previous generations. A lot of Hmong shamans today, for example, don't have or feel the need for a shaman master. A lot of shamans today use fruits and "non-living" things for healing rituals. Compared to older generations when almost all rituals required the use of a pig as sacrificial animals in rituals. Older generations also believe we cannot become a shaman without a master. In present time, many Hmong shamans, mainly those in MN, are wearing an all white attire during a shaman ritual as well. This is a new phenomenon that in recent years has picked up a lot of controversy. Compared to older generations who believe Hmong shamans should only wear Hmong clothes, many new shamans today believe wearing white symbolizes purity, cleanliness, and kindness.
I am in such awe when I think about the new wave of Hmong shamans as they are the first generation Hmong shamans to be born in America. The term Hmong American Shaman takes on a new identity. I read somewhere on someone's post about how young shamans today can be compared to laptops vs old shamans who are the dial up computers back when computers first came out. Although there is disagreement there, we shouldn't look at Hmong shamanism in a way that compares a shaman to another. Hmong shamanism is not like comparing android to smart phones or flip phones to cell phones. I believe that everything should change. It's only natural for things to change over time. Religion, politics, government... We live in a universe that is forever changing. Just because something is truth doesn't mean it stays stationary. Truth also changes with perspective and with time. We discover new answers, perspectives change, and the way we do things will change. Hmong shamans of course evolve too and there's nothing we should discourage about evolving.
-tfl