Nom Tub Xyooj
Leader of all Xiong
JeiVah Families
My name is Nao Tou Xiong. My parents were Xai Teng Xiong and Bee Moua. I am the fifth generation of descendants from Jeivah Xiong. I was born on July 17, 1948 in Na Nya, township of Phu Xa in the province of Xieng Khoung. My parents had five sons and five daughters. Unfortunately, many of them have passed away. As of this writing, only my oldest brother Ga Ze and two sisters, Shoua (Mrs. Nhia Chou Moua) and Yer (Mrs. Wa Khue Moua), are alive. All of us live in Wisconsin. Yer lives in Appleton and the rest of us live in Eau Claire. My older brother Nhia Vue who is deceased has two sons (Za Moua and Chao Neng), a daughter and his second wife that are living in Laos. His daughter Sheng is not married as of this writing. They currently live in Nom Pe, Xieng Khouang, Laos. My brother Nhia Vue also had three daughters from his first wife. They live in the United States. His oldest daughter, Pai (Mrs. Neng Yee Lee), lives in Eau Claire. The second daughter, Khou (Mrs. Nom Khue Yang), lives in Detroit, Michigan. The youngest daughter, Der (Mrs. Nhia Chue Vang), lives in Arkansas. Der’s mother also lives with them.
My wife Xong Kue and I got married in 1967 in Long Cheng, Laos. My wife is the daughter of Ju Fang Kue and Mai Hang. My wife has two brothers and three sisters. Both of her brothers live in Detroit, Michigan and her three sisters live in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. My wife and I have ten children altogether. Our oldest son, Pheng died as an infant. At this time, we have six daughters and three sons. Our daughters, Nong, Kaying and Phoua, were born in Long Cheng, Laos. Our three sons, Vinai, Lee and Yee, were born in Wheaton, Illinois. Our youngest three daughters, Mai Nhia, Mai Sy and Blia, were born in Eau Claire. All of our children live in the Eau Claire and St. Paul areas. We have been blessed with 14 grandchildren so far.
My wife Xong and I have five acres on which we have built a five bedroom home for our family. Xong is home most of the time and she works in the garden tending to vegetables and flowers. She sells her produce and flowers at the local farmers’ markets. I continue to work for the Eau Claire City Housing Authority. I fix and manage homes for low income families. According to my age, I should be retired and be staying at home. However, I would like to set a good example for everyone to follow. Since I am still capable, I continue to work every day.
In Laos, I received an education in Phu Dum from 1957 to 1961. From 1961 to 1975, I had to leave my family and relatives to live all over the country of Laos. After the communist took over Laos in 1975, my immediate family and I had to leave Laos to become refugees in Thailand. We reached Thailand on June 2, 1975, almost a month after we had planned our escape.
Our lives in Thailand were full of misery and woe as refugees. The conditions in the camp were crowded and unsanitary. Food was scarce and we had very little money left. We missed our families back in Laos terribly but tried to make the best of our situation. In Thailand, camps were built especially for the Hmong refugees from Laos. The United Nations handed out food rations to families but it was never enough. I was fortunate enough to get a job dividing and handing out food. With the little pay that I received, we bought food to supplement what the government gave us. My wife and two nephews also worked in the fields picking cotton and cultivating land for Thai families for small amounts of change to help buy food and clothing. Shortly after we have lived in Ban Vinai, another one of my nephews, Chue Kou Xiong arrived. He was very thin and scraggly looking at the time. I hardly recognized him. He had spent many days on the run until he finally made it into Thailand. My heart was filled with joy upon seeing another member of my family coming to join me. I felt like there was hope that perhaps my whole family would be reunited once again. In 1976, I was approved to come to the United States. At that time, I have made a decision to not come to America because in my heart I kept hoping that if I waited a little longer in Thailand, more of my family would come to join me. We waited until 1978 and felt that we couldn’t wait any longer. We had spent three arduous years in a camp with no future for my family. Chue Kou got married and so did Kia, my niece who also lived with us at the time. I finally decided that we had to come to America if there was going to be any hope of a better life for any of us.
On June 6, 1978 my family arrived in Chicago, Illinois. Our sponsor found an apartment for us in Wheaton, Illinois. Chue Kou and his wife ended up in Texas. Nhia Tou and Chia Bee were sent to Seattle, Washington. Shortly after this time period, I heard word that several more of my nephews had made it into Thailand and wanted me to sponsor them so that they could also come to America. I took out the necessary paper work and started the process to bring my nephews, Koua, Dang, Moua, Kao, Lia, Tong, Doua and Sou, to come live with me in Wheaton. I cried once more when my nephews arrived, thanking my ancestors for the blessing of bringing more family members to live with me. By this time, I had news that my father and youngest brother had passed away in the village of Nong Xang, in Laos. The arrival of my nephews brought renewed hope and joy into our lives. No money or gold could have brought the feeling of happiness that I had at seeing them.
During that time in Wheaton, there were very few Hmong families. A Hmong man by the name of Xeng Doua Xiong had arrived in Wheaton in 1976. He was one of the few Hmong families that owned a car. He helped our family a great deal by transporting us and translating for us when we went to the clinics or hospitals. We also made friends with many Caucasian people who cared for our family a great deal. They helped us get acclimated to our new life and taught us English. They would share what they had with our family and give us new experiences so that we could learn the American way of life.
After three years of living in Wheaton, I realized that I needed to learn a trade in order to move any where in my employment. Because Wheaton did not offer any adult language classes or trade skills courses for non English speakers, I needed to find a place that would offer those two things. I traveled to Wisconsin and decided to move to Eau Claire in October of 1981.
Shortly thereafter, all of my nephews also joined my immediate family in Eau Claire. Eventually, another nephew named Za Teng and his wife also wrote to me from Thailand asking that I help sponsor them to America. I took out the appropriate paper work and his family was able to join us. This added to my extended family and once more I was over come with joy.
In 1987, I then sponsored my sister Shoua and her two children. They also brought with them my youngest brother’s son Ge to come live with us. However, misfortune struck shortly after they arrived. During a hot July day, Ge decided to go swimming with several other boys. He was not used to the fast current of the river and was drowned in the Chippewa River in Eau Claire. It was a painful and heart wrenching tragedy for all of us as he was the only son my brother Chue had.
In 1990, my oldest brother Ga Ze, his wife and his son along with their family came to join us in America. The addition of Ga Ze’s family gave me a brother and another family that I knew I could turn to. This strengthened my resolve to continue to work hard and find ways to help my now growing family in Eau Claire.
Eventually, my nephews heard word that their parents had made it into Thailand. They sponsored their parents and younger siblings just like I had sponsored them years before. In Eau Claire, these parents came to be reunited with their sons: Yong Na, Chia Koua, Chia Pao, and Chai Vang. At the time of this writing, all of the brothers listed here have passed on. It is very sad for me to have lost them once again, but I am also thankful that they had spent time in America to be with me and their children. My own parents were not so fortunate and were never able to get out of Laos. Once more, it seems like my nephews and I have become orphans again. Unfortunately, such is life and can not be prevented. No one wants to travel down that path to never return, but life deals each of us our lot and we need to treasure each moment that we have with one another. With those of us that remain, we need to continue to love and care for one another. We need to look after the interests of each other and make sure that our parents would be proud of us if they were here today.
Translated & Written By Charles Vue
March 8, 2008
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