MPR’s Lynette Nyman presents a series titled “This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota.” In this part, Nyman reports on the shift of power and leadership from the older to the younger generation in the Hmong community.

New leaders are appearing in Minnesota's Hmong-American population. In a community where elder clan leaders were once the primary voice of authority and counsel, young men and women have emerged to take their place. They're not as familiar with Hmong ritual and tradition, but they know how to maneuver in American society. It's a big change, especially for the women who could never hold leadership positions in traditional Hmong society. Hmong-Americans are dealing with a power shift within their community.

THE 150,000 HMONG PEOPLE living in the United States traveled thousands of difficult miles to get here. Many settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, giving it the largest urban Hmong population in the world. Today these Hmong are wrestling with issues of culture and identity, with maintaining ties to the past and seeking to thrive in modern urban America.

This is part two of four-part series "This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota"

Click links below for other reports in series:

part 1: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/03/08/this-is-home-the-hmong-in-minnesota-hard-work

part 3: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/03/10/this-is-home-the-hmong-in-minnesota-sew-it-right

part 4: https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1999/03/11/this-is-home-the-hmong-in-minnesota-going-home