Zhoua Xiong lived in Muong S01 in Laos. She first came to North Carolina. She has twin sisters. Zhoua ‘was not sure of her age but told a story about a palace being built because her mother told her that the year the palace was built was the year she was born What is your age? (The tape toas not running at the beginning when Zhoua started telling this story which relates to houw old she is, but the interviewer wrote it down from memory immediately following the interview) One day a girl dreamt that a bear looking man was sleeping with her. She told her parents, but no one believed that she was pregnant with this bear looking man. She never even dated before, how could she possibly have gotten pregnant? The village decided that they were going to wait nine months to see the baby. After nine months, the baby never came. After two years, the baby never came. The girl's stomach just got bigger and bigger. Finally, the wise man of the town said that they were going to build her a palace so she could rest there and stay there. The palace was the most beautiful thing that was ever build. It stood tall, and Mother Heaven, that was the girl's new name now, because the people believed that Mother Heaven was carrying an angel from above, was at the very top floor. [Tape starts but it is unclear how much of her story was not included.] Twelve legs (2) My aunt, ‘uncle, and everybody went, There were so many people and everyone was watching the shining clothes and if the road turned no one would know. Really hard the pole went under and my sister inlaw Ba escaped and a child that belonged to my sister-in-law Chia La. The people ahead went to Po Pheng. My Aunt Ga didn’t want to help 50 she was bending down, My Aunt Ga wasn’t watching where she was going so she fell in a hole and she was stuck. Her husband was crying and he was pulling on my belt saying "Go help my wife, if you don’t go and help my wife they might kill her: I won't live without her.” Then La Za and they went to go and help her. When they went, they ‘were so scared. There were buried poles and then they would tie your hands and wrap your hands around the pole. A long red string was wrapped around a sword that was used to cut throats, Slowly by slowly they would cut the throats of people. The body was tied to the pole so that the body would not fall. Then the heads would fall off from the body. There was so much blood that I swear humans have more blood then anything, The blood was squirting all over the place. One by one the people were slaughtered. One after another. My La Za was so scared that he peed in his pants and he didn’t notice. After killing the others, they would come and get you. It was so scary that if you pee in pants, you would not care. As you watch the people being slaughtered, there was so much blood that with one person, their blood would fill up more than five gallon. Then that Vang man was coming and saved the people that were being slaughtered because the people who were killing those innocent people were scared of that Vang. man. That's why they didn’t kill La Za. La Za asked, “Why is he dressed like a Chinese man and how does he know how to fly?” Then the other people said, “Let's go over there,.Let’s go over there.” La Za said, "You guys go first and I'll come later.” When they got there he was already there. The people got scared so they didn’t kill any one xno more. Then La Za escaped and went to the guard and said, “Mr. guard, I swear I never killed that soldier. I'm too scared. I was just running in the jungle and the Woods. I never killed that soldier if Tever killed a soldier I promise you that I would put my head on that pole and you could cut it off. Please let my people go.” Then the guard let my sister-in-law, Ga Chue and our grandma Tong ‘Vang go home, I wasn’t born yet so I don’t know how many got to go home too. When you were stil tiving i Laos, what village did you live in? lived in a village where the war was taking place in Muong Soi. When you first came to America, where did you first arrive? When we first came here we were living in Muong Moc. We were there for seven years until Muong Moc exploded then we ran. My husband was shot by the Vietnamese. As you ean see the Vietnamese shot my hand and now it looks like this.The missile was so big, and the bullet was very 9 eee eee ecm ae ARH A AR ABR ROT OT OUT = qEEE big too. The bullet was so big that it made my house explode and my bedroom was all turn apart. A piece of glass cut my hand and there was a lot of blood. It became very puffy and my son wrapped it and it was so puffy that it hurt so much and I got very angry and I took off the bandage and. everyday I would massage it. and then it got better. It looks like this so I could not do anything. My fingers were weak, then I only had one hand to work with. At that time I still had a daughter who would fold up my pants for me to pee, food food to me, and she did my hair. I was very upset. I was very, very upset that keep (couldn't understand) my hand then it got better. Ever since I came to this country, my hand hasn't been hurting since then. When I take a bath I had to use one hand, when [ eat I just push the food with one so that I can eat, I was so miserable, They said they were going to cut off my hand if [et them, but I said, “Oh, I'm getting too old, and I'm almost dead.” When it hurt a lot I felt like dying, but it’s almost better and I'm getting too old so I don’t need you to cut it off. [have nothing to do anyway, so Ian have my daughter-in-laws take care of me. My daughters were taking care of me for along time until they got married then my daughter-in-laws would take care of me. They would feed me rice and meat. I was very miserable. Then we ran from the enemies and they killed my husband. When he died we didn’t eat our breads so we put it down. We ran to Muong Moc for seven years until Muong Moc exploded and then we ran from here to there, there to here. Some of my cousins were living in Nong Het so we went to Nong Het. Then Nong Het exploded and we ran here. We ran to Nong Khai. “Have you ever had a job? How could I work? I don’t even have hands to work. Only my sons and my daughter-in-law When you were stil Ing in Laos, your husband was a soldier, right? ‘Yes, my husband was a soldier and my two oldest sons were soldiers too. My sons Hai Yia, Sai Chu and Va Chang were soldiers. They were all soldiers, including my husband. Yes, all the men in my family went to do it. They all went to live in Thai. How many people are in your family? At that time, it was only my older sons. There were three of them, which all became soldiers and their father f00, so there were four guys. Wher you were younger did you go to school? No, we only cooked. When you were coming to this country what was the hardest thing for you when you were running from the Vietnamese? Oh, you just don’t know how hard it was for us to come here. When we came here at that time there ‘was no one who would take us. so my son who went to study in Long Chang took us. He would climb trees so that he can see above the tree tops. He had only took us four people and we were so scared. It was our first time so the Vietnamese shot fire at us and they captured my daughter-in- Iaw.We were almost at the river when the Vietnamese came and shot fire at us. My daughter, son and daughter-in-law went, but I was left behind in Mt. Phoua Bia for about a month. Then my son, came back to look for my daughter-in-law, and some were captured by the Vielnamese and were taken to Sam Neua. My son was in Thailand for three months before he came to get my daughter-on- Jaw and me. He then came to save me, my daughter-in-law, and a boy named Ker who was a boy that my son was going to take back to Thailand to teach. It was only us four so we were so scared, that when we came, we didn’t know anything and when yu ave as old like me, you are very scared. On the way my son told us to go over the (couldn't understand). My son wanted us to step on the (couldn’t understand) but [couldn't reach itso that my daughter-in-lavt said to me,” Mom, you're just stepping anywhere. If you're not going to step on our tracks, so don’t try to catch up with us. You only follow what you can.” Tthen fell into a deep ditch and they went into the water. I didn’t see them so [cross the river on the other side of the beach to look for them. Then later my son said, “Where's mom. Let's go and find her.” When they came to look for me they didn’t want to call out my name, because they were t00 scared that they might get caught. So they just went around looking, for me, “Ah.1 don’t see her anywhere.” Then my son got mad and said, "It’s almost dark so you two go home first. you're just 120going to look for her like that when you can go home. I'm going to look for her. He went back to the Fiver to look for me and he said to himself, “Oh, Maybe we crossed the river and my mother did not follow us and he came further down the river, calling my name very loud. I heard him and when ‘you fell in a ditch like that one, it was just the four of us 50 we were really scared that the Vietnamese might find us. There was this road that was really old and narrow. The road had real tall grasses and for the people who did not know about the road, there would be a man in a little tend that would not care about people that needed help. If there was a little tent that would not care about people that needed help. If there was a little girl wearing a Fimong dress and if she was badly wounded the man would just let her die there and he would not care about her. There was a road that we went on and there were some leaves that were as high as your knees. When we were going ‘on the road we didn’t know too, because of the high leaves, it was hard for us to get to Thailand. ‘There were some houses along the shore that had dead people’s heads in there. My son had said to me, “Mom, look at that.” As you look at it you could see the black heads of people. It was so scary that one look was good enough and you didn’t feel like looking at it again. It was scary looking at those dead bodies and heads. We were read scared, but we made it to Thailand and we were in Khai. When you crossed the big river, how did you cross if? We we crossed the river we had bought four plastic bags for us to wear. We did not know how to swim so we tied the bags together and my son had to drag us while swimming across the river. When you had crossed the river, were there other families crossing the river with you? No, there was no one with us when we were crossing the river twas just the four of us. You all got to Thailand right? Noon did? No When you got to Thailand, were the Thi people nice to you or were they mean? Like I said, the Thai’s were real nice. When we went I took a ying? with me. My son said, “Mom, our first time going the Thai’s asked if we could each give them czai? to the Thai's.” When he said that [hid ying? When we got there a houa naj? Thai took our things and spilled it out. If he sees the bla ya? he would take the bla ya? and he would chow? it and keep it. He took my bag about this size that I had medicine and some of my things in there, He poured out everything that was in my bag and he saw my ying? and picked it up and put it in his pocket. I then had nothing left. If you had money coins around your waist, he would not want it, he only wanted money. He then took us toa house and later two Thai women came and the Thai men said that Thad a ying and he had taken it from me. The two Thai women had come to search me. They searched my hair down to my breast. They probably figured that since I had big breasts I might hide things in there. but I just thought to myself, “its only my breasts. I have nothing to hid in there, Why search?” The two Thai women searched me and they didn’t find anything so they took us to another house and they feed food to us. I said that the Thai’s were nice people. Thai’s only give food to you. How many years did you live in Thailand before you came to the United States? I don’t know how many months. All I know is that the Thai's just said that they were going to send us to Na Hiam, no, it was Vinai. I don’t remember. When you came here did you have a sponsor. Did you have relatives make out papers fo come and pick you up? No, there was no one, We just came here by ourselves. When we came we just stayed there in Vinai and have my Uncle Nhia Blia come and pick up up to come here. Do you still have relatives living in Laos? Oh yes, Ihave a lot of relatives still living in Laos. In the village Long Chieng and Ab Lia? {still have a’son there with his wife and two daughters over there. 20 E - FE = F F & Fi # |a ie ee ee ee Wher you tere running azoay from the Vietnamese, what did you do if you were sick or ill? If we were sick we just asked around looking for medicine, Then, we would take our sickness to the hospital. ‘You had hospitals, too? Yes, we did, There was a house that was used for hospitalizing people. My daughter would take people's sickness to the hospital. Do you still remember when the French and the Nhia Poon? came to Laos? I still can remember a little. I remembered when the yee poon? came. When they told that yee pon was here, we had a sha? who was sheing sheing? There was a sha that said the yee poon is here. fight the yee poon, Bombs exploded at the yee poon. As the yee poon came they used horses and carriages to catty bullets and guns. Someone had said, “Oh there are a lot of yee pooons coming here, so then Ying took my horse and used it to carry bullets. I then sold my horse to them and they sold their horse too, We heard about the yee pon? coming but we did not see them. The koojlay? that they had said had exploded. We were in the village Bonong Thai? I was still making wine and when we were running we were drinking a lot of wine. Drinking wine was the only thing we had. When living in Laos, did the woman and man have to do anything? No they did not have to do anything at all. All they did was cooked, Okay, is there anything else you wanted to say? No. 122