Memory in women's hands?
This research examines the role played by Hmong women in the process of remembering their people's exile. Although the Hmong people are patrilineal and women seem to be subject to many gender-related constraints, they play a central role in the transmission of memory. The ethnic memory of the Hmong is largely passed on through the education of women, the true representatives of the family, the clan and now, of Hmong ethnicity in the multi-ethnic context of Guyana. The women learn how to be and look through skills such as embroidery, cooking and knowledge of medicinal plants. Before heading out into the field, Maire-Camille Linte wondered how these skills shape Hmong women and how they influence the ethnic memory of the Hmong people.
Maire-Camille Linte
After completing her first year of a Master's degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Université Jean Jaurès in Toulouse, she continued her research with a Master's degree in Ethnological Expertise in Intangible Heritage. Her first fieldwork, in the Hmong village of Cacao, focused on the role of gender in the transmission of the migratory memory of Hmong women from Laos, exiled to French Guiana since 1977. In the second year of her Master's program, she is continuing her ethnography of the world of women, focusing on know-how and paying particular attention to the practice of embroidery. Through this study, she examines the link between embroidery and femininity, the role of Hmong women as transmitters of culture and the power this gives them within their community.
Marie-Camille Linte
