>> So...
speaking Hmong
>> Katie Thao speaks the language of her homeland. But for most Hmong students she counsels, it's a language they don't understand. >> I guess we kinda lost it, or we don't follow the Hmong tradition any more. >> Katie speaks from experience. She speaks for a culture torn apart by war. >> I was born in Long Tieng, that's the central base where the CIA located in Laos, when the war erupted and the Americans started to pull out. >> By age five, she was torn from the fabric of her culture and forced to live the consequences of war. >> My father recruited other families to move, and to keep traveling and to flee through the jungle of Laos into Thailand. That migration is dangerous and took months, and putting life in danger. The memories that I have, is my father literally carrying me on his shoulder, and my pants were mud, thick. And at some point, I remember him taking a huge machete knife and scraping that mud off me. >> Hmong villagers fought along side U.S. soldiers, and yet when they escaped to this country, many Americans didn't know if the Hmong were friend of foe. >> The most important thing that I learned from my elders is never to give up. They are survivors. The Hmong people, by nature, are survivors. Katie not only survived. She excelled, skipping the fourth and eighth grades. >> It was either a sink or swim, because at the time, we had no other Hmong person that was here already that learned the language, learned the system that could guide us through it, >> So Chiang, what is it that you want to do next school year? Where is it you want to go? >> Today, Katie guides her students through the system at Green Bay's Preble High School. >> You've really answered two of those big puzzles, what do I want to do and where d I want to go. >> Katie doesn't take her education for granted, and believes the role of Hmong women can no longer be taken for granted either. However, Katie is still careful to abide by centuries-old traditions. >> In every aspect of a Hmong woman's life, she has to know her boundaries, exactly how far to go, and then people within her family, her clan, will also help guide her to not be that nail that sticks way too far out. >> In an arranged marriage, Katie joined her husband's clan. This photo shows the first time they met. Katie arrived in Wisconsin at age 17, newly married and separated from her family in Denver. >> I truly feel that at this point in time, life in Wisconsin is home. It's just the ideal place to raise a family. >> But the journey to this ideal place comes with a price. Katie's past is never far away. >> My husband, every night, he dreams about fleeing in the jungle, war in the jungle, holding knives, escaping or trying to find his way. Many Hmong people refuse to speak about it and to relive that. It's very painful. There's traumatic losses, not just loss of innocence, loss of lives, loss of personhood, loss of identity. Kong, I wanted to congratulate you on achieving a wonderful score on that reading test. >> Despite that loss, Katie still sees light. Like many Hmong women, she forged ahead against the traditional tides of Hmong culture. >> I truly, truly feel that some Hmong men are still very, very traditional. Sometimes it's hard for them to accept a strong woman, to accept that women can be in position of power. And there's no excuse why... >> Katie's position as a professional woman is not lost on the younger generation. >> It is really unusual, because it's rare. I never see it anywhere. Especially being a counselor, yeah.
speaking Hmong
>> Katie is Wisconsin's unofficial Hmong ambassador of the airwaves. Each week, Katie and her husband Shoua take to the airwaves of Wisconsin Public Radio to preserve Hmong culture. >> As I age, I realize that aspects of the culture is dying so very, very fast, and it's a challenge every day. You almost have to force yourself to hang onto it. >> Katie is moving forward with a passion and vision for her Hmong people. >> For all young Hmong people that's what my hope and dream would be, is to find a place in society, give back to society, make a difference and continue to strive forward.
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