The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America 2001
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street NY, NY 10016; 212-808-4980
Produced by Taggart Siegel
Directed by Taggart Siegel
VHS, color, 56 min.
Sr. High - College
Asian American Studies, Asian Studies, Anthropology, Religious Studies, Social Sciences
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Kathleen Loomis-Sacco, SUNY College at FredoniaThe Hmong are a Laotian tribal group. They fought for the United States during the Vietnam War. After the war, the Thao family was forced to leave Laos for the United States and settled in Appleton Wisconsin. The Split Horn outlines the efforts of Paja Thao, a Hmong Shaman, to keep his family and culture alive in the American Midwest.
The film, narrated by Paja’s teenage daughter, Chai, focuses on Paja’s role in the Hmong community in Wisconsin and the rituals of the Hmong religion. It also shows how Paja’s children are slowly moving away from their ancestral religion and becoming Americanized, much to the sadness of their family patriarch. Chai states that her father laments what will happen when he dies, and worries about what will happen to his soul if there is no one to mourn him in the tradition of his ancestors.
The Split Horn shows both the religion and traditions of an ancient culture, and what happens to the people of a culture when they move into a new environment. From Chai, who both plays on her school basketball team and dances traditional Laotian dances, to Chai’s brother Xue, who has an American girlfriend and is having a baby with her, to their sister Kia, who has become a Christian, this film does a good job portraying the clash of cultures.
Highly recommended for high school and college audiences.