Rhegille Baltazar
Ava McCall's "Speaking Through Cloth: Hmong History Through Textiles" highlights the storytelling qualities of Hmong story cloths and fashion. Hmong people have had a long history of migration and oppression and story cloths have been a way to pass down the narratives of the people through both what is written on the story cloths and the act of creating the story cloth itself.
Hua Xiong says, "My mother taught me. At first she would start the beginning of the pattern for me. Then I would keep going. If I had any questions, just ask and she'd help me..." Xiong's quote attests to the storytelling of the paj ntaub through the act of passing it on. Transferring the custom from generation to generation is a story on its own. It is being able to share stories of ancestors through the act of teaching the next generation.
I see this as a parallel to story quilts where communities have used patchworks of cloths to tell different parts of a story. This tradition of story telling through cloth is not uncommon, yet the Hmong have a strong, rich history that transcends borders. How will story cloths change over time?
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