Mark Pfeifer, Director of Programs at the Hmong Cultural Center, chose to highlight this photograph from their collection in MDL: a traditional Hmong New Year blessing with a shaman.

View the photograph below:

Hmong New Year blessing with Shaman, Hmong Cultural Center, St. Paul, c. 2004-2005

This is a photo of a traditional Hmong New Year ceremony held at Hmong Cultural Center's old location in Frogtown (Sunrise Market building). A Hmong shaman holds a rooster and participants walk around in a circle. This practice, known as "Lwm Sub," is a longstanding cultural tradition observed during the New Year. Its purpose is to cleanse away negative energy, ensuring a prosperous and healthy year ahead. The team at the Hmong Cultural Center remains dedicated to practicing this tradition as a means of preserving our cultural heritage and passing on its knowledge to future generations.

This ceremony is very important in traditional Hmong culture. The Hmong Cultural Center contributes to hold these ceremonies for the community every December. At 31 years old, the Center continues to teach the community and the broader society about Hmong culture.

I took part in this ceremony almost 20 years ago and am in the photo. I also took part in a very similar ceremony in December 2023 in the parking lot at Hmong Cultural Center's current location.

The Hmong Cultural Center is the primary Hmong and Asian American organization in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area that provides community outreach activities related to multicultural education for the purposes of promoting positive race relations in the Twin Cities community with the webinars, seminars and presentations in our Hmong 101 Program.

Browse the Hmong Cultural Center collection in MDL.