Hmong Religion (Shamanism)

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Hmong Religion (Shamanism)

Finger bells (Tswb neeb) often tied with red or white strings is part of the Hmong Shaman tools used to to travel into the spirit world, heal people, and/or fight off evil and lost spirits.

Author: Matt O’Donnell
Grades: 6-8

Suggested Amount of Time: 90 Minutes
Area of Study: Hmong Ways of Knowing

Compelling Question

  • How do we understand the varied worldviews of peoples in Hmong communities?

Lesson Questions
  • In what ways has the practice of Shamanism among the Hmong community adapted to life in the United States?
  • How has this helped the Hmong maintain their cultural identity?
Lesson Objective

Students will gain an understanding of Shamanism in Hmong communities and analyze the challenges to cultural identity and cultural preservation amidst diasporic experiences.

Lesson Background

Many Hmong people living in the United States practice animism and shamanism plays an important role in Hmong communities. Shamans support community members by communicating with the spiritual world to heal illnesses. They do this through intricate rituals which include chants and symbolic gestures, sometimes involving gifts for the spirits. They also support the community in overseeing rites of passage and in preserving cultural identity. The role of a shaman in Hmong communities in the United States is continually adapting to the challenges of dispersed communities and generational differences.

This lesson contains content that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether the resources are suitable for their class and provide a content warning to their students at the beginning of the lesson.

Image Citation: Biggs. (n.d.). Black Hmong Shaman Bell [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ee_biggs/10840502803

Supply
  • Access to laptop device
Readings
  • Teaching Hmong Shamans Western Medicine on KQED website
  • What Is Hmong Shamanism? on Religions in MN website 
  • Hmong Community Planted Spiritual Roots in Merced Hospital on the CHCF Blog 
  • The Split Horn on PBS 
Video
  • Life as a Young Hmong Shaman on YouTube 
Handouts
  1. Warm-Up (five minutes)
    1. Teacher will ask students to share examples of how their own culture maintains its identity. (Teachers can start with providing some examples such as: religion, rituals, festivals, etc.)

 

  1. Vocabulary (15 minutes) 
    1. Teacher will explain to the students that they will be learning about Shamanism in Hmong communities in the United States. Teachers can utilize the lesson background to preface the lesson. Before the class begins looking at some inquiry resources, they will be doing a vocabulary activity to better understand the resources.
    2. Teacher will divide the class into groups of three.
      1. Teacher will pass out the “Vocabulary Handout” to the students (see page 1  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/phu6yd9w85kvied9cvcqipourcsk156c). 
    3. Each student in the group will define three of the terms and share their definitions with the rest of the group. The students can use a computer to aid them in finding the definitions.
    4. Teacher will circle the room and make sure the students are finding the correct definitions. (Teachers can refer to the Glossary for recommended definitions  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/6x9idpzzthbyiyzxo6f8e1xljy3okqw4.) 

 

  1. Group Inquiry (30 minutes)  
    1. Teacher will tell the students that they will be learning about Shamanism and how it is practiced in the United States.
    2. Teacher will give each group the following resources: (The resources can be put on Google Classroom, other Learning Management Systems, or the links can be shared via a Google Doc.)
      1.  What Is Hmong Shamanism? https://hmongshamans.omeka.net/exhibits/show/introduction-to-hmong-shamanis/introduction-to-hmong-shamanis/what-is-it- 
      2.  The Split Horn - Shamanism https://www.pbs.org/splithorn/shamanism.html
      3.  Hmong Community Planted Spiritual Roots in Merced Hospital https://www.chcf.org/blog/hmong-community-planted-spiritual-roots-merced-hospital/
      4.  Teaching Hmong Shamans Western Medicine https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/5131/teaching-hmong-shamans-western-medicine
      5.  Life as a Young Hmong Shaman (7:50 minutes) https://youtu.be/z8CXwY7zHA4?feature=shared 
    3. Teacher will tell the students the following: Your group will use these resources to answer an inquiry question. You can divide the documents amongst yourselves. The inquiry question your group will be answering is: “In what ways has the practice of Shamanism among the Hmong community adapted to life in the United States? How has this helped the Hmong maintain their cultural identity?”
    4. Teacher will share the “Hmong Shamanism in the United States Guided Notes” Handout (pages 2–4  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/phu6yd9w85kvied9cvcqipourcsk156c) to help students answer the inquiry question. Students should work together so they all have a completed guided notes handout.
    5. Once students are finished, review the notes and responses as a whole class to ensure that students are on the right track and have grasped a solid understanding of the lesson question.

 

  1. Individual Assessment (50 minutes)
    1. Teachers will have students return to their seats.
    2. Teachers will now tell the students they will be completing an individual assessment.
    3. Teachers will pass out the Hmong Shamanism Assessment Handout (see page 5  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/phu6yd9w85kvied9cvcqipourcsk156c).
    4. Teachers will explain the assessment to the students.
      1.  Students can use the resources as well as the Guided Notes handout to complete the assessment. Students can choose from a variety of assessment options including a 250-word essay, a slide presentation, a short video, a poem, or an interview with a Hmong American. Each option will answer the following inquiry question: “How has this helped the Hmong maintain their cultural identity?” (See Supplementary Sources for additional support around assessment options.)
      2.  Students can begin to work on the assessment in class and will finish the assessment by a date determined by the teacher.
      3. Teachers should check in with each student to make sure they have a plan for their assessment.

 

  1. Closure (10 minutes)
    1. Have students conduct a Give One/Get One activity in which they find peers to share their final products with. 
    2. Have students reflect on the lesson and make a connection by asking them to share their thoughts on the biggest factors that influence cultural preservation for communities in the United States.

Students will choose from a variety of assessment options including a 250-word essay, a slide presentation, a short video (one to three minutes), a poem, or an interview with a Hmong American. Each option will answer the following inquiry question: In what ways has the practice of Shamanism among the Hmong community adapted to life in the United States? How has this helped the Hmong maintain their cultural identity?

  • Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:
    • Invite personal response, evaluation and self-reflection to content and activities
    • Construct communities of learners engaged in common interests or activities

 

  • Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:
    • Offer clarification of notation through lists of key terms
    • Provide written transcripts for videos or auditory clips

 

  • Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:
    • Post goals, objectives, and schedules in an obvious place
    • Provide differentiated feedback (e.g., feedback that is accessible because it can be customized to individual learners)

 

For additional ideas to support your students, check out the UDL Guidelines at CAST (2018)  http://udlguidelines.cast.org.

  • Emerging: Consider the following method to support with emerging students:
    • Listening: Restate/Rephrase and use oral language routines
      • Teacher paraphrases student responses as they explain their thinking in effort to validate content learning and encourage the use of precise language.

 

  • Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students:
    • Listening: Check comprehension of all students frequently
      • Teacher paraphrases student responses as they explain their thinking in effort to validate content learning and encourage the use of precise language.

 

  • Bridging: Consider the following method to support with bridging students:
    • Listening: Model academic language and vocabulary
      • Apply domain­-specific vocabulary and general academic vocabulary in open sentence frames to perform functions, like describing or explaining, that target specific grammatical structures.

 

For additional guidance around scaffolding for multilingual learners, please consult the following resources:

  1. Students can learn more about Hmong religion and practices, such as the Hu Plig: the Soul Calling Ritual, using this panel from Hmongstory 40 “Life in Laos Religion”  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/w3icesq9qn7m191mj12nyi6s1vlszv0k.

 

  1. Have students watch “Bee Cher Teng Yang - Hmong Shaman Traditions” https://vimeo.com/986059201 (27:25 minutes) and have a discussion on the different terminologies and shaman practices. 

 

  1. Students can also compare and contrast Shamanism in Hmong communities with Shamanism in some Native communities.

Across The Mountains. 2022, June 17. Life as a young Hmong shaman [Video]. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8CXwY7zHA4 

Bion, X. S. 2020, February 27. Hmong community planted spiritual roots in Merced Hospital. California Health Care Foundation. https://www.chcf.org/blog/hmong-community-planted-spiritual-roots-merced-hospital/

Britt, K. 2020, May 11. English learner toolkit of strategies. California County Superintendents.  https://cacountysupts.org/english-learner-toolkit-of-strategies/

California Department of Education & English Learner Support Division. (2012). California English Language Development standards (Electronic Edition) kindergarten through grade 12 (F. Ong & J. McLean, Eds.). California Department of Education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

California Educators Together. (n.d.). ELA / ELD framework. https://www.caeducatorstogether.org/resources/6537/ela-eld-framework

CAST. 2018. The UDL guidelines. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Hmong Shamans. (n.d.). What is Hmong shamanism?. Omeka.  https://hmongshamans.omeka.net/exhibits/show/introduction-to-hmong-shamanis/introduction-to-hmong-shamanis/what-is-it- 

Kalantari, S. 2012, April 20 Teaching Hmong Shamans western medicine. KQED.  https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/5131/teaching-hmong-shamans-western-medicine 

PBS. (n.d.). The split horn: Shamanism. https://www.pbs.org/splithorn/shamanism.html 

San Diego County Office of Education. (n.d.). Providing appropriate scaffolding.  https://www.sdcoe.net/educators/multilingual-education-and-global-achievement/oracy-toolkit/providing-appropriate-scaffolding#scaffolding

Tulare County Office of Education. (n.d.). Strategies for ELD. https://commoncore.tcoe.org/Content/Public/doc/Alpha-CollectionofELDStrategies.pdf 

Supplementary Sources

Applied Digital Skills. (n.d.). Introduction to write the lyrics for a song.  https://applieddigitalskills.withgoogle.com/c/middle-and-high-school/en/write-the-lyrics-for-a-song/write-the-lyrics-for-a-song/introduction-to-write-the-lyrics-for-a-song.html 

Bakkegard, D. 2024, January 9. Amplifying student voices with authentic Media-Making tasks. Edutopia.  https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-create-media/ 

Friday, M. J. 2022, April 20. How to make poetry writing fun. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-make-poetry-writing-fun/ 

Habashi, A. 2023, October 29. National poetry month activities for middle and high school classrooms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. https://www.hmhco.com/blog/national-poetry-month-activities-for-middle-and-high-school-classrooms

Her-Xiong, Y., & Schroepfer, T. 2018. Walking in two worlds: Hmong end of life beliefs & rituals. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 14(4), 291–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/15524256.2018.1522288

Hmongstory Legacy. 2024, July 17. Bee Cher Teng Yang - Hmong Shaman Traditions [Video]. Vimeo.  https://vimeo.com/986059201 

Unknown. 2015. Hmong Story 40 Panel Exhibit: Religion. The Hmongstory 40 Project / Hmongstory Legacy, Fresno, CA. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/w3icesq9qn7m191mj12nyi6s1vlszv0k 

Model Curriculum

Hmong History and Cultural Studies

Standard(s)

HSS 6.6 RH.6-8.2 W.6.6 L.8.6

Grade(s)

Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8