Hmong Courtship and Marriage Practices
Compiled by Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD
Her, M. and Z.B. Xiong. (2023). “Self-Reported Reasons for Divorce, Social Support, and Depression: An Exploratory Story with Hmong Women.” Journal of Family Issues. Volume 0(0): 1-20.
Vang, P.D. & P. Her (2014) Teenage Marriage among Hmong American Women, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24:2, 138-155.
Vang, P.D. and M. Bogenschutz. (2013). "Hmong women, marital factors and mental health status." Journal of Social Work, 13(2):164–183.
Vang, P.T. (2013). A Phenomenological Study of Hmong Women's Experience with Forced Marriage in the Hmong Culture. M.S.W. Thesis, California State University, Fresno.
Hmong Cultural Center. (2013). Hmong Wedding Procedures. Saint Paul: Hmong Cultural Center.
Stanford, J.N. (2010). “The Role of Marriage in Linguistic Contact and Variation: Two Hmong Dialects
in Texas.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 14(1): 89-115.
Vang, M.N. (2010). The Good Wife: A Study of Hmong American Women’s Transient Status and their
experiences in the Formal Hmong Marriage and Divorce Process. M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee.
Mouavangsou, C. (2009). Traditional Hmong Marriage Ceremony Values and Practices: Influence
and Change as a Result of Immigration. PhD Dissertation, Alliant International University, Fresno.
McAvoy, P. (2008). “Should Arranged Marriages for Teenage Girls be Allowed? How Public
Schools Should Respond to Illiberal Cultural Practices.” Theory and Research in Education 6(1): 5-
20.
Lee, S.C. Xiong, Z.B. and F.K.O. Yuen. (2006). “Explaining Early Marriage in the
Hmong American Community.” In H. Holgate, R. Evans, F.K. Yuen (Eds.) Teen Pregnancy and
Parenthood: Global Perspectives, Issues and Interventions. London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 25-37.
Saint Paul Public Schools English Language Learner Programs. (2004). Traditional Hmong Ways and Hmong
Marriage Ritual: Course Handbook (Hmong Language Version).
Kundstadter, Peter. (2004). "Hmong Marriage Patterns in Thailand in Relation to Social Change." In Tapp, N.,
Michaud, J., Culas, C., and Lee, G.Y. (Editors). Hmong/Miao in Asia. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, pp.
375-420.
Tamara L. Kaiser. (2003). “Achieving Shared Meaning in Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Understanding a Hmong Family’s Response to Marital Violence.” Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work 12(3): 29-54.
Mymee Her, and Chue Pao Heu. (2003). "Traditional Hmong Concepts of Wife Beating." In Culhane-Pera, K.E. et.
al. Editors. Healing by Heart: Clinical and Ethical Case Stories of Hmong Families and Western Providers.
Nashville: Vanderbilt Press, pp. 224-233.
Moua, Teng. (2003). The Hmong Culture: Kinship, Marriage and Family Systems. M.S. Thesis, University of
Wisconsin-Stout.
Yang, Manee. (2003). A Qualitative Study Examining the Effects of Polygyny on Hmong Individuals Who Had Been
Raised in Polygynous Households. M.S. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Amalia Anderson; Taya Moxley-Goldsmith and Patrick Ostergren (2002). “Community, Conflict and Consensus:
Responses to Proposed Hmong Marriage Legislation.” Paper prepared by Hamline University School of Law and
College of William Mitchell students enrolled in Equal Justice: Applied Research Class, Fall 2002, College of
William Mitchell, 46 pages.
Ngo, Bic. (2002). “Contesting ‘Culture’: The Perspectives of Hmong American Female Students on Early Marriage.”
Anthropology and Education Quarterly 33(2): 163-188.
Lee, T.G. (2002). Tshoob Kos (Traditional Hmong Wedding Ceremony). St. Paul, MN: Hmong Cultural Center.
Ly, C. (2001). “The conflict between law and culture: The case of the Hmong in America.” Wisconsin Law Review.
2: 471-499.
Rice, P.L. (2000). Hmong Women and Reproduction. Westport, CT: Bergin and Harvey.
Salaün P., 1999.- Le système de production agricole hmong à Saül (Guyane française) : modalités de
pérennisation. JATBA, Revue d'Ethnobiologie, vol. 41 (1-2), 251-279.
Cooper, Robert (Editor) (1998). The Hmong: A guide to traditional lifestyles . Singapore: Times Editions.
Julian, Roberta. (1998). "'I love driving': Alternative constructions of Hmong femininity in the West." Race, Gender
& Class, 5(2), 30-53.
Fang, Chao (1997). Intergenerational values differences between younger and older Hmong in the United States,
PhD dissertation. United State International University.
Yang, Pao. (1997). An investigation of divorce related to Hmong American women. M.S. thesis, University of
Wisconsin, Stout.
Beniek, Brenda M. (1994). “From Sib Tham to Mediation: The Shaping of a Modus Vivendi.” Hamline Journal of
Public Law and Policy. 16(1): 459-503.
Donnelly, Nancy D. (1994). Changing lives of refugee Hmong women . Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Hutchinson, R. and M. McNall (1994). “Early Marriage in a Hmong Cohort.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 56
(August 1994): 579-590.
Evans-Pritchard, D. & Rundeln, A.D. (1994). "The Interpretation and Distortion of Culture: A Hmong 'Marriage by
Capture' Case in Fresno, California". Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 4(1): 1-48.
Dana, A.F. (1993). Courtship and Marriage Traditions of the Hmong. Master's Thesis, California State University,
Fresno.
Danes, S.M. (1993). "Middle-Generation Hmong Couple Decision Making Patterns." In Cross Cultural Approaches
to Home Management, edited by R.V. Schweitzer, 307-331. Frankfurt am Main: Boulder, CO: Campus Verlag;
Westview Press, 1993.
Ly, Maychy. (1993). Hmong women: Their role and responsibilities . Minneapolis: Association for the Advancement
of Hmong Women in Minnesota.
Trevison, C. (1993). “Changing Sexual Assault and the Hmong.” Indiana Law Review 27: 393-314.
Sakulnamarka, D. (1992). Life Satisfaction of Middle-Generation Hmong Husbands and Wives. PhD Dissertation,
University of Minnesota.
Weinstein-Shr, G. and N.Z. Henkin (1991). “Continuity and Change: Intergenerational Relations in Southeast Asian
Refugee Families.” Marriage and Family Review 16 (Summer 1991): 351-367.
Hall, S.E. (1990). "Hmong Kinship Roles: Insiders and Outsiders." Hmong Forum, 1:25-39.
Hughes, M.K. (1990). Hmong Concepts of Parenthood and Family in the United States. Master’s Thesis,
Washington State University.
Scott, G.M. (1987). “To Catch or Not to Catch a Thief: A Case of Bride Theft Among the Lao Hmong Refugees in
Southern California.” Ethnic Groups 7: 137-151.
Sheybani, M.M. (1987). “Cultural Defense: One Person’s Culture is Another’s Crime.” Loyola of Los Angeles
International and Comparative Law Journal 9 (Summer 1987): 751-83.
Dunnigan, T. (1986). “Processes of Identity Maintenance in Hmong Society.” In The Hmong in Transition, ed. by G.
L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing, and A.S. Deinard, 41-53.
Goldstein, B.L. (1986). “Resolving Sexual Assault: Hmong and the American Legal System.” In The Hmong in
Transition, ed. by G.L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing, and A.S. Deinard, 135-43.
Hang, D. (1986). “Tam Tuab Neeg: Connecting the Generations.” The Hmong World 1: 33-41.
Meredith, W.H. and G.P. Rowe. (1986). “Changes in Hmong Refugee Marital Attitudes in America.” In The Hmong
in Transition, ed. by G.L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing and A.S. Deinard, 121-133.
Meredith, W.H. and G.P. Rowe. (1986). “Changes in Lao Hmong Marital Attitudes After Immigrating to the United
States.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 17 (Spring 1986): 117-126.
Thao, C.T. (1986). "Hmong Customs on Marriage, Divorce, and the Rights of Married Women." In The Hmong
World, Editors, Brenda Johns and David Strecker, New Haven, CT: Council on Southeast Asia Studies, pp. 74-99.
Lee, G.Y. (1985). “Aspects of Hmong Residence, Household, and Marriage.” Minneapolis: Southeast Asian
Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, 1985.
Lee, G.Y. (1985). “Hmong Social Structure and World View.” Minneapolis: Southeast Asian Refugee Studies
Project, University of Minnesota, 1985.
Bishop, K.A. (1984). The Hmong of Central California: An Investigation and Analysis of the Changing Family
Structure During Liminality, Acculturation and Transition.” Ed.D. dissertation, University of San Francisco.
Kunstadter, P. (1984). “Cultural Ideals, Socioeconomic Change, and Household Composition: Karen Lua’, Hmong
and Thai in Northwestern Thailand.” In Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group,
edited by R. Mcc Netting, RR. Wilk, and E.J. Arnould, 299-329. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1984.
Linblad, K.S. (1982). Brutality and Morality: Domestic Violence and the Hmong. (Unpublished).
Matsumoto, D.R. (1982). Asian Women and the Law: Two Case Studies. In Asian and Pacific American
Experiences: Women’s Perspectives. Nobuya Tsuchida, ed., pp. 230-245. Minneapolis: Asian/Pacific American
Learning Resource Center, University of Minnesota.
Vang, Kao (1982). Hmong Marriage Customs: A Current Assessment. In The Hmong in the West: Observations
and Reports. Bruce T. Downing and Douglas P. Olney, eds., pp. 29-47. Minneapolis: Center for Urban and
Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota.
Dunnigan, T. (1980). Negotiating Marriage in Hmong Society: An Example of the Effect of Social Ritual on
Language Maintenance. Minnesota Papers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language 6: 28-46.
Bertrais, Yves (1978). The Traditional Marriage Among the White Hmong of Thailand and Laos. Chiang Mai,
Thailand: Hmong Center.
Bertrais, Yves (1977). Le marriage traditionnel chez les Hmong Blancs du et de la Thailande. Chiang Mai,
Thailand: Hmong Center.
Ruey Yih-Fu, and T. K. Kuan (1962). Marriage and Mortuary Customs of the Magpie Miao of Southern Szechuan,
China. Academia Sinica: Institute of History and Philology, Monograph Series A no. 23. (In Chinese) [EA DS731.
M5S8]
Compiled by Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD
Her, M. and Z.B. Xiong. (2023). “Self-Reported Reasons for Divorce, Social Support, and Depression: An Exploratory Story with Hmong Women.” Journal of Family Issues. Volume 0(0): 1-20.
Vang, P.D. & P. Her (2014) Teenage Marriage among Hmong American Women, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24:2, 138-155.
Vang, P.D. and M. Bogenschutz. (2013). "Hmong women, marital factors and mental health status." Journal of Social Work, 13(2):164–183.
Vang, P.T. (2013). A Phenomenological Study of Hmong Women's Experience with Forced Marriage in the Hmong Culture. M.S.W. Thesis, California State University, Fresno.
Hmong Cultural Center. (2013). Hmong Wedding Procedures. Saint Paul: Hmong Cultural Center.
Stanford, J.N. (2010). “The Role of Marriage in Linguistic Contact and Variation: Two Hmong Dialects
in Texas.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 14(1): 89-115.
Vang, M.N. (2010). The Good Wife: A Study of Hmong American Women’s Transient Status and their
experiences in the Formal Hmong Marriage and Divorce Process. M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee.
Mouavangsou, C. (2009). Traditional Hmong Marriage Ceremony Values and Practices: Influence
and Change as a Result of Immigration. PhD Dissertation, Alliant International University, Fresno.
McAvoy, P. (2008). “Should Arranged Marriages for Teenage Girls be Allowed? How Public
Schools Should Respond to Illiberal Cultural Practices.” Theory and Research in Education 6(1): 5-
20.
Lee, S.C. Xiong, Z.B. and F.K.O. Yuen. (2006). “Explaining Early Marriage in the
Hmong American Community.” In H. Holgate, R. Evans, F.K. Yuen (Eds.) Teen Pregnancy and
Parenthood: Global Perspectives, Issues and Interventions. London: Taylor and Francis, pp. 25-37.
Saint Paul Public Schools English Language Learner Programs. (2004). Traditional Hmong Ways and Hmong
Marriage Ritual: Course Handbook (Hmong Language Version).
Kundstadter, Peter. (2004). "Hmong Marriage Patterns in Thailand in Relation to Social Change." In Tapp, N.,
Michaud, J., Culas, C., and Lee, G.Y. (Editors). Hmong/Miao in Asia. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, pp.
375-420.
Tamara L. Kaiser. (2003). “Achieving Shared Meaning in Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Understanding a Hmong Family’s Response to Marital Violence.” Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work 12(3): 29-54.
Mymee Her, and Chue Pao Heu. (2003). "Traditional Hmong Concepts of Wife Beating." In Culhane-Pera, K.E. et.
al. Editors. Healing by Heart: Clinical and Ethical Case Stories of Hmong Families and Western Providers.
Nashville: Vanderbilt Press, pp. 224-233.
Moua, Teng. (2003). The Hmong Culture: Kinship, Marriage and Family Systems. M.S. Thesis, University of
Wisconsin-Stout.
Yang, Manee. (2003). A Qualitative Study Examining the Effects of Polygyny on Hmong Individuals Who Had Been
Raised in Polygynous Households. M.S. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Amalia Anderson; Taya Moxley-Goldsmith and Patrick Ostergren (2002). “Community, Conflict and Consensus:
Responses to Proposed Hmong Marriage Legislation.” Paper prepared by Hamline University School of Law and
College of William Mitchell students enrolled in Equal Justice: Applied Research Class, Fall 2002, College of
William Mitchell, 46 pages.
Ngo, Bic. (2002). “Contesting ‘Culture’: The Perspectives of Hmong American Female Students on Early Marriage.”
Anthropology and Education Quarterly 33(2): 163-188.
Lee, T.G. (2002). Tshoob Kos (Traditional Hmong Wedding Ceremony). St. Paul, MN: Hmong Cultural Center.
Ly, C. (2001). “The conflict between law and culture: The case of the Hmong in America.” Wisconsin Law Review.
2: 471-499.
Rice, P.L. (2000). Hmong Women and Reproduction. Westport, CT: Bergin and Harvey.
Salaün P., 1999.- Le système de production agricole hmong à Saül (Guyane française) : modalités de
pérennisation. JATBA, Revue d'Ethnobiologie, vol. 41 (1-2), 251-279.
Cooper, Robert (Editor) (1998). The Hmong: A guide to traditional lifestyles . Singapore: Times Editions.
Julian, Roberta. (1998). "'I love driving': Alternative constructions of Hmong femininity in the West." Race, Gender
& Class, 5(2), 30-53.
Fang, Chao (1997). Intergenerational values differences between younger and older Hmong in the United States,
PhD dissertation. United State International University.
Yang, Pao. (1997). An investigation of divorce related to Hmong American women. M.S. thesis, University of
Wisconsin, Stout.
Beniek, Brenda M. (1994). “From Sib Tham to Mediation: The Shaping of a Modus Vivendi.” Hamline Journal of
Public Law and Policy. 16(1): 459-503.
Donnelly, Nancy D. (1994). Changing lives of refugee Hmong women . Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Hutchinson, R. and M. McNall (1994). “Early Marriage in a Hmong Cohort.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 56
(August 1994): 579-590.
Evans-Pritchard, D. & Rundeln, A.D. (1994). "The Interpretation and Distortion of Culture: A Hmong 'Marriage by
Capture' Case in Fresno, California". Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 4(1): 1-48.
Dana, A.F. (1993). Courtship and Marriage Traditions of the Hmong. Master's Thesis, California State University,
Fresno.
Danes, S.M. (1993). "Middle-Generation Hmong Couple Decision Making Patterns." In Cross Cultural Approaches
to Home Management, edited by R.V. Schweitzer, 307-331. Frankfurt am Main: Boulder, CO: Campus Verlag;
Westview Press, 1993.
Ly, Maychy. (1993). Hmong women: Their role and responsibilities . Minneapolis: Association for the Advancement
of Hmong Women in Minnesota.
Trevison, C. (1993). “Changing Sexual Assault and the Hmong.” Indiana Law Review 27: 393-314.
Sakulnamarka, D. (1992). Life Satisfaction of Middle-Generation Hmong Husbands and Wives. PhD Dissertation,
University of Minnesota.
Weinstein-Shr, G. and N.Z. Henkin (1991). “Continuity and Change: Intergenerational Relations in Southeast Asian
Refugee Families.” Marriage and Family Review 16 (Summer 1991): 351-367.
Hall, S.E. (1990). "Hmong Kinship Roles: Insiders and Outsiders." Hmong Forum, 1:25-39.
Hughes, M.K. (1990). Hmong Concepts of Parenthood and Family in the United States. Master’s Thesis,
Washington State University.
Scott, G.M. (1987). “To Catch or Not to Catch a Thief: A Case of Bride Theft Among the Lao Hmong Refugees in
Southern California.” Ethnic Groups 7: 137-151.
Sheybani, M.M. (1987). “Cultural Defense: One Person’s Culture is Another’s Crime.” Loyola of Los Angeles
International and Comparative Law Journal 9 (Summer 1987): 751-83.
Dunnigan, T. (1986). “Processes of Identity Maintenance in Hmong Society.” In The Hmong in Transition, ed. by G.
L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing, and A.S. Deinard, 41-53.
Goldstein, B.L. (1986). “Resolving Sexual Assault: Hmong and the American Legal System.” In The Hmong in
Transition, ed. by G.L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing, and A.S. Deinard, 135-43.
Hang, D. (1986). “Tam Tuab Neeg: Connecting the Generations.” The Hmong World 1: 33-41.
Meredith, W.H. and G.P. Rowe. (1986). “Changes in Hmong Refugee Marital Attitudes in America.” In The Hmong
in Transition, ed. by G.L. Hendricks, B.T. Downing and A.S. Deinard, 121-133.
Meredith, W.H. and G.P. Rowe. (1986). “Changes in Lao Hmong Marital Attitudes After Immigrating to the United
States.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 17 (Spring 1986): 117-126.
Thao, C.T. (1986). "Hmong Customs on Marriage, Divorce, and the Rights of Married Women." In The Hmong
World, Editors, Brenda Johns and David Strecker, New Haven, CT: Council on Southeast Asia Studies, pp. 74-99.
Lee, G.Y. (1985). “Aspects of Hmong Residence, Household, and Marriage.” Minneapolis: Southeast Asian
Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, 1985.
Lee, G.Y. (1985). “Hmong Social Structure and World View.” Minneapolis: Southeast Asian Refugee Studies
Project, University of Minnesota, 1985.
Bishop, K.A. (1984). The Hmong of Central California: An Investigation and Analysis of the Changing Family
Structure During Liminality, Acculturation and Transition.” Ed.D. dissertation, University of San Francisco.
Kunstadter, P. (1984). “Cultural Ideals, Socioeconomic Change, and Household Composition: Karen Lua’, Hmong
and Thai in Northwestern Thailand.” In Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group,
edited by R. Mcc Netting, RR. Wilk, and E.J. Arnould, 299-329. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1984.
Linblad, K.S. (1982). Brutality and Morality: Domestic Violence and the Hmong. (Unpublished).
Matsumoto, D.R. (1982). Asian Women and the Law: Two Case Studies. In Asian and Pacific American
Experiences: Women’s Perspectives. Nobuya Tsuchida, ed., pp. 230-245. Minneapolis: Asian/Pacific American
Learning Resource Center, University of Minnesota.
Vang, Kao (1982). Hmong Marriage Customs: A Current Assessment. In The Hmong in the West: Observations
and Reports. Bruce T. Downing and Douglas P. Olney, eds., pp. 29-47. Minneapolis: Center for Urban and
Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota.
Dunnigan, T. (1980). Negotiating Marriage in Hmong Society: An Example of the Effect of Social Ritual on
Language Maintenance. Minnesota Papers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language 6: 28-46.
Bertrais, Yves (1978). The Traditional Marriage Among the White Hmong of Thailand and Laos. Chiang Mai,
Thailand: Hmong Center.
Bertrais, Yves (1977). Le marriage traditionnel chez les Hmong Blancs du et de la Thailande. Chiang Mai,
Thailand: Hmong Center.
Ruey Yih-Fu, and T. K. Kuan (1962). Marriage and Mortuary Customs of the Magpie Miao of Southern Szechuan,
China. Academia Sinica: Institute of History and Philology, Monograph Series A no. 23. (In Chinese) [EA DS731.
M5S8]