Hmong celebrate 40 years in Minnesota

Her family
Shoua Moua, Dang Her and their children Touvi and Bill in Anoka, Minn., in 1977. The Her family was the first Hmong family to arrive in Minnesota on Nov. 5, 1975.
Courtesy of Her family

Forty years ago Thursday, Nov. 5, the first Hmong family — Dang Her, his pregnant wife Shoua Moua and their son Touvi — arrived in Minnesota.

The Hmong had been allies of the United States during the Vietnam War and had to flee Laos as the U.S. pulled out.

Today, Minnesota has the second-largest Hmong population in the country (California is first). However, the Twin Cities is home to the largest urban concentration of Hmong in the United States.

Take a look back at their journey and learn more about the Hmong in Minnesota:

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