Introduction List of Color Plates The Hmong and Their Culture History of the Hmong Traditional Beliefs and Customs Animal Symbols Farming Houses Birth and Death The Shaman (Tu-ua-neng) New Year's Festival Marriage Customs Hmong Folk Arts Jewelry Clothing Pa Ndau (Flower Cloth) Storycloths Cultural Conflicts Preserving a Cultural Heritage Color Plates Folk Stories--In the Beginning The Beginning of the World Legend of the Rice Seed How Seeds Came Again into the World and Why Dogs Eat Feces Droppings The Origin of the Shaman Another Age of Happiness Creation, Flood, Naming Story How/Why Folk Stories Why Monkey and Man Do Not Live Together Why Animals Cannot Talk Why People Eat Three Meals a Day and Why Doodle Bugs Roll Balls of Dung Why Farmers Have to Work So Hard Why Birds Are Never Hungry Why Hmong Are Forbidden to Drink Mother's Milk Why the Hmong Live on Mountains Shoa and His Fire The Story of the Owl Folk Stories of Love, Magic, and Fun A Bird Couple's Vow The Monkeys and the Grasshoppers Sister-in-Law Yer and the Tiger: How a Wise Woman Tricked the Tiger Zeej Choj Kim, the Lazy Man Pumpkin Seed and the Snake The Handsome Husband Ngao Nao and Shee Na The Tiger Steals Nkauj Ncoom The Orphan and the Monkeys The Orphan Boy and His Wife The Tigers Steal Nou Plai's Wife, Ntxawm Gwa and Uo and Their Two Fish Wives Bibliography About the Authors.