Paula Xiberras
I recently spoke to Margaret Eldridge about her new book ‘New Mountain, New River, New Home?’ which tells the fascinating story of the mysterious Hmong people who made their home in Tasmania. Today, although around 100 Hmong still live in Tasmania, predominately in Campania, Hobart and the North West of the state after 15 years, the majority of Hmong became examples of what is known as secondary migration.
Secondary migration or what Margaret calls ‘pragmatic migration’ is when a group migrate to one country or state and then move on to another, after being well established in the first migration.
Margaret recounts in her book there are two graves at Pontville cemetery and seven at Bushy Park that are unique to those surrounding them. Unique because instead of flowers they are covered with produce, fruit and vegetables symbolic of the food provided for them in the underworld. Margaret says that sometimes even a coke might be present.
There is an irony in the presence of the fruit and vegetables because the Hmong were well known for selling their fruit and vegetables at Salamanca market.
There is mystery surrounding the Hmong’s very origins, did they originally come from Mongolia or were their blue eyes evidence of their origins in Siberia?
Margaret was recruited by the Hmong themselves to write their story because her relationship with them is longstanding, she supported and encouraged the Hmong people right from the beginning of their time in Tasmania. Margaret also lived in Laos, the Hmong homeland and worked as a volunteer literally walking in the Hmong’s shoes.
Margaret with her height and light coloured hair stood out when she visited the Hmong in their own country and was affectionately known as mother to the Hmong people.
Margaret worked as an ESL teacher for the Hmong in the Adult Migrant English Programme and also did some volunteer settlement work with the Hmong through her church refugee settlement group.
As the Hmong were preliterate Margaret devised her own method of teaching the Hmong, methods that can be applied to teaching other preliterate migrants of today. The Hmong however did tell their story or cultural capital, cleverly, literally weaving it into their garments.
Margaret outlines in her book the various reasons put forward for the Hmong’s secondary migration from Tasmania, among them, the most popular theory, that they left to gain a warmer environment to increase the variety of produce on their farm.
The Hmong migrated to Brisbane and Cairns and to Innisfail. In Brisbane the Hmong elders had difficulty finding their way around without a mountain for navigation. With the youth of the community working and distances between suburbs they felt very isolated.
In Cairns the situation was different because there were mountains which the Hmong affectionately named Boy and Girl Mountain after the mountains in Laos.
One Hmong woman who had migrated to Brisbane recounted to Margaret how, in her new home, she cried when she saw a car with a Tasmanian number plate. This example demonstrates to us that the Hmong left Tasmania for a number of reasons including the warmer climate but this migration was in no way a reflection of their engagement and love for Tasmania and its people.
Margaret’s book ‘New Mountain, New River, New Home?’ is available at Hobart Bookshop and the State Cinema. You can also obtain the book direct from Margaret.
