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Dia's Story Cloth
By Dia Cha |
ORDER -- Item #2592, Price $15.95
For centuries needlework has been part of Hmong culture. But it has only been within the last two decades that "story cloths" emerged as a way for the Hmong to keep their stories alive.
For the Hmong people, story cloths are a bridge between past and present. For all Americans, Dia's Story Cloth is a universal story of the search for freedom.
Dia's aunt and uncle, Chue and Nhia Thao Cha, made this story cloth in 1990 in the Chiang Kham refugee camp in Thailand. They have since returned to Laos.
Book Description from the Front Cover Flap
Dia Cha's story is shared by many Hmong Americans who made a long journey to freedom. As told through the story cloth stitched by her aunt and uncle, the Hmong people's search for freedom began long ago in China and continued as they settled in Southeast Asia. With the onset of the Vietnam War, many Hmong, who fought with the Americans, were forced from their villages in the highlands of Laos. After the war, they embarked on the dangerous flight to refugee camps in Thailand. Many families spent years in the camps before eventual resettlement abroad.
Background on the Author and Artists
Dia Cha was born in Laos. In 1975 she fled with her family to Thailand, where they spent over four years in the Ban Vinai refugee camp before gaining entry to the United States. Although she didn't start school until she was 15 years old, in 1992 she became one of the first Hmong American women to earn an advanced degree: a master's in applied anthropology from Northern Arizona University. She works as a cultural anthropologist in Boulder, Colorado, and is co-author of Folk Stories of the Hmong. Dia's Story Cloth is her first book for young readers.
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Copyright © 2006 by AACP, Inc.
Most recent revision November 10, 2006