| Kinship and Money by Ka Bao Lee |
| Imagine going to the bank and borrowing hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars without having a credit check or even signing any papers. Imagine the banker trusting and believing you when you say you are going to pay the bank back. Imagine this loan incurs no interest and there are no payment plans or even a set date as to when the money should be paid back. If only, right? As impossible and unbelievable as this system may seem, it occurs more than people might think. It may not happen within the banking system, but it does happen within closely knit communities that are more reliant on each other rather than outside institutions. One of these communities is the Hmong community. The Hmong system of borrowing money is not based on credit reports or assets, rather it is based on kinship. Hmong people, being the most recent refugees in the United States, have relied on kin for finances since their arrival. However as Julie Keown-Bomar, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, has found, the reliance on kinship can have its advantages and disadvantages. Fueled by the tension and misconceptions of Hmong people in her own community, Keown-Bomar began studying Hmong people in 1997. Focusing on the role kinship plays in the Hmong community Keown-Bomar said, "Kinship can be painful, family can be painful and it can be beneficial at the same time." Kinship has always been a part of Hmong culture. Keown-Bomar believes that kinship helped Hmong people survive the Secret War, the refugee camps and the integration into American society. "I believe that it really helped people adapt once they arrived in the United States, both to retain their culture and take on characteristics of the dominant culture that would allow them to be Hmong in America and still be self sufficient and prosper." Kinship is part of the Hmong identity. Keown-Bomar said that within this established identity, men are the ones who most often connect kinship with economic values. She explained that they knew who they could count on for a loan within their kin. As people established themselves financially in the United States, they also inertly display their status of wealth to the community. This status opens them up to be lenders. At the same time, the borrower also needs to establish their reputation as responsible and trustworthy enough to be able to pay back the loan. Needless to say, within this system of familial ties and trust there are obligations and unspoken rules that can be tough to escape from. For the lender, there is the obligation to lend the money because it is kin yet there is that difficult and uncomfortable situation of asking for payment. Keown-Bomar said that it is a hard system to break free from and sometimes individual choices take a back seat to group decisions. Keown-Bomar did warn that although this system of financial lending and borrowing money from kin still exists today, it was much more prevalent when refugees first arrived in the United States. Today, Hmong people have adapted and become more familiar with institutions such as banks and are less economically reliant on kin. Keown-Bomar also noted that as people are becoming wealthier, they also feel less obligated to help out family because they themselves don't have to rely on kinship as much. However, although the role of kinship may change over time, it is still a strong force within the Hmong community and will continue to influence future generations. Although reliance on kinship can cause tension and strain relationships, it has helped many Hmong people start their lives in a strange new world. Without the help of kin, perhaps the Hmong community would not have prospered as quickly as it has today. Keown-Bomar also pointed out that, "When you look at American life, sometimes we have money and wealth, but we may be very lonely. We may be all kinds of rich, but we may not be as rich in kin as other cultures." |
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