Listen in Hmong: A 40-year journey, remembered

Dancers from the Iny Asian Dancer Theater
Dancers dressed in traditional Hmong outfits from Iny Asian Dancer Theater take part in the Hmong Freedom Celebration and sports festival on July 4, 2014, at Como Park in St. Paul. More than 20,000 people visited the two-day event, hosted by the Lao Family Foundation, one of largest international gatherings of Hmong people in the world.
Ackerman + Gruber/For MPR News

Xyoo no yog plaub caug xyoo txij thaum Hmoob los nyob hau Minnesota no. Hawm txog plaub caug xyoo txib thaum Hmoob los nyob no, "Minnesota Public Radio" los sis.

Xov Toom Cuaj Minnesota sib sij hawm los nrog ob peb tug ntawm peb cov Hmoob no tham txog hais tias lawv luj neej zoo li cas.

About the translator: Sandy'Ci Moua

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Sandy'Ci Moua
Sandy'Ci Moua
Courtesy of Sandy'Ci Moua

Sandy'Ci Moua's father, Hauly Chongsher Moua (Col. Moua Houa) was a Hmong soldier for the C.I.A. He was the air traffic controller for the secret Long Cheng base and guided the last plane out.

Her mother, Karry Moua (Kayeng Xiong), got the name "Sandy" from dusty English school textbooks.

Moua's family arrived in Minnesota late in the summer of 1980.

Sandy'Ci was born in Minneapolis and raised in St. Paul's Frogtown and east side neighborhoods. Hmong is her first language.