04 — REFERENCES
Sources, voices, and further listening.
No single source can tell the whole story.
How this project was researched
This website draws from several forms of evidence: academic articles, oral histories, Catholic sources, museums and cultural organizations, and films. Academic articles help explain qeej construction, ritual language, Hmong religion, and historical debates. Oral histories preserve what individuals and families remember about war, migration, refugee camps, resettlement, work, religion, and cultural change.
Reading sources critically
Historical records are not neutral simply because they are written. Government documents, missionary reports, ethnographies, museum descriptions, and news articles were created by people with particular goals and limitations. Oral histories also reflect individual perspective, memory, translation, and the circumstances in which an interview was conducted. This website identifies disagreement where sources do not agree.
Terminology
Historical sources may use Hmong, Mong, Miao, Meo, or Mèo. These terms do not always refer to exactly the same population, and some carry histories of outside classification or derogatory use. This website uses Hmong in its own narration. Original titles and quotations retain the terminology used by their creators so that sources can be located accurately.
Spellings of Hmong terms can differ by dialect, transcription system, region, and teacher. Terms on this site should therefore be understood as documented forms rather than the only correct forms.
History sources
Minnesota Historical Society, “Hmong in Minnesota.”
Minnesota Historical Society, “Hmong Oral History Project.”
Minnesota Historical Society, “Hmong Women’s Action Team Oral History Project.”
Vang, Ma. Displaced Histories: Refugee Critique and the Politics of Hmong American Remembering. University of California, San Diego, 2012.
Valley PBS. The Hmong and the Secret War. 2017.
U.S. Census Bureau. 2016–2020 American Community Survey, Table B02015.
Religion and Catholicism sources
Tapp, Nicholas. “Hmong Religion.” Asian Folklore Studies 48, no. 1, 1989: 59–94.
Agenzia Fides. “H’Mong: New Priest Among Growing Catholic Community of Ethnic Minority.” November 26, 2025.
Affatato, Paolo. “Farewell to Fr. Tito Banchong, Priest of the People of Laos.” Vatican News, 2025.
Diocese of La Crosse. “The Miracle of a New Parish.”
Lankford, Ann, and Father Alan Burkhardt. “The Only Hmong Catholic Parish in the U.S.” Catholic Life, Diocese of La Crosse, 2024.
Qeej sources
Vetter, Roger. “Qeej.” Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection.
Falk, Catherine. “Hmong Instructions to the Dead: What the Mouth Organ Qeej Says, Part One.” Asian Folklore Studies 63, no. 1, 2004: 1–29.
Thao, Yer J. “Culture and Knowledge of the Sacred Instrument Qeej in the Mong-American Community.” Asian Folklore Studies 65, no. 2, 2006: 249–267.
Alliance for California Traditional Arts. “Cha Tou Xiong.”
Hmong Cultural Center of Minnesota and Stone Soup Fresno. Crafting Tradition: Building the Traditional Hmong Qeej Instrument.
PBS Wisconsin. Preserving Hmong Stories Through Qeej Music. 2025.
Adler, Christopher. Khaen: A Guide for Composers.
Images are evidence, too. Every photograph should identify its creator, date when known, location when known, holding institution, and license or permission status.
This project remains open to correction. The available written record is incomplete, and no source can substitute for the knowledge of Hmong elders, artisans, qeej players, language teachers, clergy, catechists, and families. Corrections are especially welcome concerning Hmong spelling and dialect, qeej pipe names and orientation, regional variation, Catholic community history, image identification, translation, attribution, and cultural context.
A correction will not be treated as a threat to the project. It is part of making the project more responsible.