Thread: Hmong Knife
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Old 5th September 2020, 06:10 PM   #10
Jim McDougall
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While this topic is admittedly outside my fields of study, it is fascinating and I did at one time enter into some research. With familiarity with the Viet Nam war in recollections of that time in service ('65) the awareness of this SE Asian country became profound in the next decade of course. What most do not realize is that there was a great deal of activity there prior to first combat troops deployed there in '65 after the 'Tonkin' matter.

Montagnard is of course a collective term used to describe about 30 tribes in mountainous or hill regions of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. The Hmong were but one of these tribes. These people had been working with the French in various allied actions hence the French term. As US forces began to enter Viet Nam in late 50s, early 60s as advisors to South Vietnamese forces, the Montagnard again became important guerilla fighters allied to them.

These people were not considered integral to other Vietnamese people as they were tribal and mostly remote and rurally situated, and linguistically they spoke thier own dialects. They were often called 'moi' (=savages) by the Vietnamese population, in the manner of pejoratives such as 'hillbiilly' etc.

I recall getting a dha years ago, which was most interesting and set me on research into this apparently Viet Nam 'bring back' from 60s. Though not having access at the moment to notes etc. I remember working with a professor of ethnology in Calif. who had done extensive research and written a book on the Hmong and several of these tribes. I sent her photos of the dha, and she took them to a council of tribal elders who immediately recognized the dha as 'one of thier own' and gave some explanation of some of the markings. I think one said, the sword will return to its owner, or to that effect. What was key was that the markings had deeper meaning that simply aesthetic.

I spoke also with an Army officer who was well known and decorated, and who had been among advisors in Viet Nam in '62. He too recognized the dha in form etc.

The professor and her tribal contacts if I recall identified the dha to a tribe and village region in Laos.

Though all of this is of course anecdotal, I just wanted to add what I could about the Montagnards, and how many of these weapons ended up being bring backs from Viet Nam. Rather than trophies they were probably symbolically presented to our military in the alliance shared. As the war ended finally in '75, a small number of Montagnards were brought to the US, mostly North Carolina, however I know numbers of them were in Calif.
The rest, sadly were left to their own as Viet Nam was ended.

I will add any material I can find to augment this once available.
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