Honor the Past, Preserve the Future: Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Project

Our elders and committee members meet monthly to organize our book project for "Honoring the Past, Preserve the Future: Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Book." We're halfway done with our project. All of committee members are volunteer members from the community, except one paid part-time staff to conduct the whole project for the elders. We hope to get this project completed by June 2023 as we are working with the Hmong Educational Resources Publisher to laying out and publishing the book. ; On behalf of the Hmong Minnesota Community, we wanted to thank you the Minnesota Humanities Center for the 2022-2023 Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Grants for our project on Honor the Past, Preserve the Future: Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Project.We would not be able to pull this project through without the support from this amazing grant. Thank you, MN Humanities Center and staff.

We're happy to report that the outcome of our project was a successful and a positive result for the Hmong community. Over the fiscal year 2022-2023, our part-time program director and volunteers worked tirelessly to conduct interview, collect stories and materials, and organize meetings and discussion sessions with community members/leaders and clans/elders about honoring and preserving the Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Project.

We finally accomplished our goal and put all collected materials into a book, published by the Hmong Educational Resources Publisher. In honor and acknowledge of our hard work and dedications, as well as the contribution from MN Humanities Center and the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, we included and acknowledged this collaboration in the beginning of the book (page 1). See statement below:

This book is made possible by collaborative effort of the Hmong 18 Council, Inc. of Minnesota, Hmong Educational Resources Publisher, and Minnesota Humanities Center on the Honor the Past, Preserve the Future: Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Project.

Hmong 18 Council, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the Hmong people in the state of Minnesota. Its mission is to bring positive changes in the Hmong community through racial and social justice, advocate for equity, enhance traditional values and practices, and improve the lives of individuals and families. This book project is funded in part by the Minnesota Humanities Center with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Again, THANK YOU, Minnesota Humanities Center. This cultural and traditional custom preservation book is possible because of your support and dedication to our Hmong families and community. A copy of the book will be shipping to your office for your reference about our successful grant project on Hmong 18 Clans Custom and Cultural Preservation Project.