The Aftemath

     Since the end of the Vietnam War, montagnards have been coming to America by way of Refugee Camps in Thailand and now Cambodia.  In 1979, the U.S. government established what was called an "Orderly Departure" program set up to bring refugees from Southeast Asia that qualified for U.S. resettlement under certain criteria, namely connection to the U.S., be it through former employment or other means.  This was mainly done to stem the tide of the Vietnamese "Boat People," refugees that escaped Vietnam and made perilous ocean voyages trying to reach safe havens.
     The Orderly Departure program allowed the entry of many montagnards that had escaped Vietnam and Laos and were in Thailand.  After screening them, if they were found to have some connection to U.S., they were allowed to come as refugees.  Various church groups and other NGOs helped tremendously in this regard in resettling the montagnards.  The Special Forces Association, an association for former and current Special Forces soldiers continuous to play an important role in trying to help the montagnards.
     In America, there are two well known organizations that specialize in helping the montagnards.  One organization, founded in 1986, is called Save the Montagnard People, located in North Carolina.  Former Special Forces soldiers raised money to purchase about 100 acres of land in the hills of North Carolina, very similar to the area from which these montagnards came.  The reason for this set up was to try and help the montagnards retain their culture, their way of life as much as possible.  The organization is constantly trying to raise money to buy more land to add to the existing parcel.  The goal is to ultimately have a large area, a reserve, that is exclusively for the montagnard use.  The other organization is called the Montagnard Foundation Inc., founded in 1990 and located in South Carolina.  This organization is mainly trying to find jobs and homes for montagnards who are resettled in America. There are many other church groups that are involved in trying to help the montagnards.
     One of the problems of resettlement of montagnards is that many were simply brought to America and dumped in inner city ghettos, like East Oakland in California!  There were many problems associated with these types of careless and thoughtless resettlements.  The montagnards are rural people, majority have lived for centuries as farmers and hunter/gatherers.  Most of them lived all of their lives in the hills, without electricity or plumbing.  When you take people like that and dump them in our inner cities, you are going to have some problems!  Some of the newly arrived montagnards after spending some time in the cities, chose to move out to rural areas.  Some, upon hearing that Alaska had vast open lands and plenty of game chose to move to Alaska despite the cold climate.  By all accounts, the montagnards that moved to Alaska are happy in their new surroundings, have adjusted to the cold climate, and live off the land as they did back home!  Others, especially the younger generation, have managed to adapt to the way of life in America.  Sadly, many, because they are in inner cities, turn to gangs and other gang related activities.
     In 2008, Clint Eastwood made a movie called The Gran Torino.  It was basically about a relationship that developed between an aging/dying, somewhat racist, former auto worker and a young H'mong teenager.  Eastwood portrayed the plight of the H'mong people who were resettled in America, in urban area, where many of their young turned to gang activities.  It was well done, but in reality, it was mild compared to what really went on and is still going on with the montagnards.
     It is a problem.  The organizations such as Save the Montagnard People are trying to preserve the montagnard culture.  On their reserve in North Carolina, they built a large Rhade tribe style "long house" in which several families are living just as they did in the Vietnamese Highlands.  They make traditional artifacts, textiles, etc., and sell them to generate income.  Everyone involved realizes that the montagnards cannot live exactly as they did in their homes in the highlands of Vietnam, they have to adjust to living in the more modern environment.  Yet, they must try to preserve their culture and not lose it completely as some of them appear to be doing in more urban areas.
     One thing that I did not mention in my earlier blogs about montagnards is that a very high percentage of these hill people are Christian!  The montagnards basically practice animism, and those who have converted to Christianity appear to easily combine the two!   For example, when holding the "blood brother" ceremony, a medicine man/shaman is called to do the ceremony. Yet, the people involved may very well be all Christian!  They have a very relaxed attitude about these things and don't mind mixing native animism with Christianity.  It is like what Mexican Indians did with Catholicism when they combined it with their native beliefs and came up with celebrations like the "Day of the Dead" El Dia del Muerte, etc.
     Majority of Vietnamese population that is Christian is Catholic.  Before communist take over, they say that about 15% of the population was Catholic.  Today that number has been reduced to about 7%, or so say the communists.  The Catholics in Vietnam were generally those of the upper crust, not always, of course, but generally speaking.  The Protestants, which made up about 1% of the population were always in the minority.  However, among montagnards, Protestants were the majority!  It seems that the montagnards did not take to Catholicism as they did to the Protestant faith which arrived in the highlands in the 1930s by way of American Missionaries.  So, Americans and America, it seems, had the greatest impact on the montagnards.  That is one reason why various Protestant church groups got involved in resettling and helping the montagnards.  Although not all of the montagnards that came to America are Christian, nevertheless, the majority appear to be Protestants!
     No doubt in time the montagnards in America will assimilate completely and, sadly, disappear as a distinct, montagnard group.  There is no way of getting around it.  They cannot possibly survive in our society continuing to live as they did in the Vietnamese Highlands.  The Save the Montagnard People's effort to preserve the culture is admirable, but unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle.  Even those montagnards that resettled in Alaska are no longer living exactly as they did in their homeland.  They may very well live off the land like other Alaskan natives, but instead of crossbows and spears, they use modern rifles.  Instead of wearing loincloths, they wear heavy clothing and use snowmobiles!  Everything changes, and in time, the montagnards in America will be montagnards in name only.  They will be like any other ethnic group that came to America and assimilated.
     America has the world's 4th largest montagnard population.  The largest concentration of montagnards (H'mong and others) appears to be in southern China, about 4 1/2 million.  Vietnam has the next largest population, followed by Laos.  America now has close to a half a million montagnards, more than Thailand or Cambodia.  The largest group is the H'mong, both outside of Southeast Asia and in their homeland as well.  France has the second largest montagnard population after America. 
     Today, montaganrds are scattered practically all over.  A sad state of affairs.  They have been discriminated against for centuries in every place where they lived.  They had been promised autonomy, independence, but none of the promises were ever kept.  In their original homelands they have been displaced and in some cases, have been subjected to genocide.  The Vietnamese have been only too glad to get rid of them and allow them to leave the country.  Their history and plight is very similar to another people, in another part of the world, the Kurds in the Middle East.