The creation of Hmong people: The Flood
(Hmoob Lub xeem: Dej Nyab Ntiaj Teb)

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A long time ago, there lived two brothers and a sister. Every morning, the two brothers went to work on the field while the sister cleaned the house and cooked food. One morning, the two brothers went to work and cleared the field of weed. But the next day, they came back and saw that the same field has been covered again by weeds and grasses. They thought it had grown over night, so they pulled the weeds and grasses again. The next day the same thing happened to their field again. They were both frightened and confused. They worked on the field again and afterwards, they hid in the bushes to see who has been replanting the weeds and grasses. They saw a big shadow, which turned to be a giant man, who came and began to replant the weeds and grasses. The older brother wanted to kill the shadow man, but the younger brother said to question the man first. The two brothers approached the giant man and ask him why he was replanting their field. The giant man told them that they do not need to work on the field anymore and that very soon there will be a lot of water. He told the older bother to build an iron drum and told the younger brother to build a wooden drum for him and the sister. They went home and did what the giant man said. After a few weeks, the two brothers and sister went inside their drums when rain began to fall. The rain fell for a long time until everywhere was flooded. The older brother had drowned while the younger brother and sister survived.

When the sky king heard noise from below, he decided to poke holes into earth with silver and gold spear (is it 'a' silver and gold spear? or 'silver and gold spears?). When the water was gone, the sister and brother were on land again. They came out of the boat, looked around and saw that nothing had survived besides themselves. The brother then asked his sister to marry him. The sister refused because it is forbidden to marry your own blood brother. After many attempts of asking for his sister’s hand, she finally said that they must first throw two rocks on the opposite sides of the mountain. If the two rocks came together on top of the mountain the next day, then she will marry him. So they both went to the top of the mountain and threw the rocks and went home. During the night, the brother secretly went to the mountain and put the two rocks together. The next day, the sister found the two rocks together on top of the mountain, so she agreed to marry her brother. A year later, the sister gave birth to a formless, soft egg. The two siblings did not know what to do with it so they decided to cut it up. They scattered the pieces to different places. Two pieces fell to the goat house (Ngua chee) and these pieces became the Lee (Lis) clan.  Another two pieces fell to the pig pen (ugau mbua) and it became the Moua (Mua) clan. More pieces became the Hmong clans; their names depended on where the pieces landed. The pieces also created animals and plants. Earth became populated with life again.

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​18 Clans

There are 18 Hmong clans in the Hmong culture. The 18 clans are Chang (Tsaab), Chue (Tswb), Cheng (Tsheej), Fang (Faj), Her (Hawj), Hang (Taag/Haam), Khang (Khaab), Kong (Koo), Kue (Kwm), Lee (Lis), Lor (Lauj/Lo), Moua (Muas/Zag), Pha (Phab), Thao (Thoj), Vang (Vaaj/Vaj), Vue (Vwj), Xiong (Xyooj/Song), and Yang (Yaaj). At birth, you take on your father’s last name which is the clan name. Within the clan, the members refer themselves as kwv tij, or "brothers". Family is very important to the Hmong. A Hmong family does not only consist of the parents, children, uncle, aunt, cousin. It also consists of the extended family, clan families from both of the sides, in-laws, etc. Within each family, the oldest male is the head of the household. 
In the Hmong culture, you cannot marry a person that has the same clan name as you because that is considered taboo. You have to marry someone from outside of your clan and go by your husband’s last name when you marry. There is one general or nais phoo that leads the Hmong. There are also individual leaders within each clan group that leads and make decisions within the clans. Although there are a lot of different clans, there are a few clans that are more common or appear the most nowadays.

 

 

Sources

• Thao, Chianeng and Vang, Waher. The Flood. CSUChico.edu. 3 May 2012.

The Flood: A Hmong Folk Tale. 1998.Laofamily.org. 6 May 2012