Hmong Stories: “Only in the house do your dead ancestors live”

Abstract

Relocating to the U.S. in the late 1970s, many Hmong refugees experience high rates of mental distress, partly due to factors such as one in four living below poverty and differences in assimilation levels between the young and the old. Spatial elements that supported the well-being of our interviewees included a wall that held the Shamanist altar; a stairway that accommodated a freezer where meat for celebrations was stored; open and connected living and dining areas that hosted gatherings; and extra sleeping areas that enabled extended family members to live together. Suppressing their abilities to nourish connections were open kitchens that allowed the smells from frying and using spices to permeate the rest of the house and the lack of a yard through which to nourish one’s spirit.