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Benjamin | Alex
| Martha | Sarah M.
| Abigail | Gabby
| Abigail | Benjamin
| Sarah M. | Tim
| Benjamin | Abigail
| Emily | Pakou
| Benjamin | Alex
| Abigail | Nico
| Emily | Mariah |
Emily
Hmong funerals: One of the most interesting
parts of Hmong. A time to grieve, remember, show respect,
talk, visit, even laugh. A time to help the deceased’s
spirit to its ancestors. … There are four major steps
in a Hmong funeral. The first is as  follows:
The dead body is dressed in traditional Hmong clothes. But
not just any traditional clothing, these are funeral clothes
… After being dressed the body is placed on a table.
(Later it will be put in a coffin.)
–Benjamin
The body would be dressed in traditional
clothes made by the family. It would be made completely out
of cloth and other disposable materials. If anything in the
coffin could not [decompose] it would bring bad luck to the
family.
–Alex
People who don’t like the person
who died will often put some kind of metal in the coffin so
the person’s spirit will not be able to rest in peace.
–Martha
The body lies, dressed in colorful clothing
in the center of the stage, not yet in a casket, for the people
that attend the funeral to say their goodbyes and offer any
objects or words to help the deceased retrace the steps of
her life.
–Sarah
One of the points of funerals is to
get the spirit of the dead person back to the place of birth
to get the placenta, so it can enter the spirit world.
–Abigail
When a baby girl is born, her placenta
is put under the bed in the house. When the boy is born, his
placenta goes in the center post of the house. A person called
the Txiv Taw Kev guides the deceased on a journey to her/his
past by going to wherever they came first in America to Thailand
to Mekong River to the person’s village in Laos, then
they go back to where they were born.
–Gabby
If the person is old, it takes many
hours to lead the spirit through all the home of life and
to the placenta. But it doesn’t take very long if the
person is young.
–Abigail
 The
second step involves a rooster, a special man (the Txiv Taw
Kev), some spirits, and some gifts.
–Benjamin
The Txiv Taw Kev will ask her questions
such as, “Are you really dead?” Of course she
won’t answer, but somehow the man knows.
–Sarah
The spiritual guide ceremonially tells
the spirit of the deceased that they will be going through
the locations in her life, backwards. He guides her back through
her life to the spot of her birth to get her placenta, which
is the afterbirth. The qeej player also helps her with this.
The placenta is very important, because without it the deceased
cannot enter the underworld.
–Tim
It is the rooster’s spirit that
guides the spirit to its ancestors. The person’s spirit
takes their placenta, gifts, food, money and a crossbow for
protection as they set off to find the ancestors. …
The food is to eat, and the money to pass gates.
–Benjamin
Once the rooster crows and the ancestor's
rooster crows to answer it then it has found your true ancestor!
Then it is sacrificed to lead the spirit to the ancestor and
to be like the spirit’s pet. It’s killed by cutting
its neck half way with a knife. Parts like the liver are put
in a container to be the spirit’s food.
–Abigail
Usually this takes about two hours,
and during that time they are play the qeej. … Also
during that time, family and friends bless the deceased and
ask/wish for good luck or a blessing for them too.
–Emily
The step[s] of killing the rooster [are]
hold the rooster very tight so it won’t get away, then
you cut the neck to half way, then you take out the rooster
liver to cook and then feed to the dead person, and then put
the rooster in a box with the person who passed away.
–Pakou
Step 3 involves a qeej (keng), its player,
the body, body carriers, a drum and a drummer. A special song
on the qeej is played with a drum accompaniment as the body
is carried, still in traditional clothes, to the coffin. This
song can last up to 2 hours.
–Benjamin
Lots of animals are sacrificed at a funeral.
Almost always a rooster is sacrificed, but if the person is
married they have to sacrifice [anything] from a pig to a
cow. If they are not married, or are young, they do not have
to make much of a sacrifice. A cow is sacrificed by tying
a string to it and putting the end of the string in the dead
person’s hands.
–Alex
 Traditionally,
there would be four qeej players, animals would be ceremonially
sacrificed at a butcher shop, and the body would be hung on
the wall. There will be more than four at this funeral, the
animals will be sacrificed at a farm (as there won’t
be any butcher shops nearby), and in Madison they can’t
hang the body on the walls as it’s going to be done
at a funeral parlor. Fue Chou passed around a photo of the
cows that will be sacrificed. I noted that they are somewhat
shaggy.
–Abigail
There will be soda or liquor in small
cups and that will be given to the entire clan/family.
–Nico
Everybody will sit and remember [the
deceased]. There might be crying, laughing, people visiting
with old friends, and the qeej and drum. It depends how long
this lasts. For Tria Thao, it will take longer because she
was an elder. This and the spiritual journey are usually one
very long part of the 3 or 4 day funeral.
–Emily
To some people a Hmong funeral is a
strange thing. But if you actually start to kind of understand
them, they are not very strange. I don’t think they
sound too strange.
–Mariah
One last thing: If you ever go to a
Hmong funeral, don’t be surprised if there is laughter.
Hmong funerals are part funeral, part family reunion.
–Emily
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