Hmong Folktale helps Provide Farmers with Safety Tips for Children
Hmong playwright Cha Yang combined a traditional Hmong folktale with safety tips to produce a bilingual book
aimed at helping Hmong farm families keep their children safe and healthy as they work in the field and in farmers’
markets. The Hmong are a familiar sight at farmers’ markets across the United States and their children are an
important part of the family business. And, for the Hmong as well as more traditional farmers, safety is important,
as farming is the most dangerous of all occupations.
However, two University of Minnesota farm safety experts found that they had a challenge in trying to introduce
safety information to the Hmong farmers, as usual ways of conveying the safety information were not effective.
“Just translating written information into Hmong didn’t work. Many of the older Hmong don’t speak English, let
alone read it and some of the Hmong don’t read Hmong either.” said Michele Schermann, a researcher in the
University of Minnesota’s department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. “Also, the Hmong told us that we
were trying to give them information that was not appropriate—the colors and the graphics were wrong for their
culture and the children had different tasks and potential hazards than the kids who help in the more traditional
farms.”
The difference was illustrated when Schermann’s partner in the project, John Shutske, went to a meeting of
Hmong farmers, prepared to give a workshop about safe tractor use. “Some of the elders later said they almost
never use tractors, they use rototillers instead,” said Shutske. Further research was a team effort that included
Hmong researchers. The team concluded that most often the Hmong used stories to instruct their children or
convey information to them. Acting on this, researchers contacted a Hmong playwright and a Hmong artist to write
Orphan Boy the Farmer (Tub Ntsuag, Tub Ua Teb), which can also be presented dramatically. Both the book and
the presentations have been well-received by Hmong audiences in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The book was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and by the Minnesota Rapid
Agricultural Response Fund. The book, which is illustrated by Hmong artist Kao Lee Thao, is available for $18.00
plus tax and shipping from Hmong ABC, 298 University Avenue, St. Paul, MN 651-293-0019; the artist, Kao
LeeThao, kaoleethao@folklorestudio.com; University of Minnesota Distribution Center, 1-800-876-8636 or 612-
624-4900; JT Travel and Tours, 651-489-5339; and the U of MN Agricultural Safety and Health Program. 612-624-
7444 or safety@umn.edu.
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