Hmong Bowyer — Making a Traditional Crossbow to Hunt Whitetail Deer

00:00 Making stock and prod — Txua lub taub thiab tus nta
2:43 Sanding and shaping — Muab ntawv ciab xais los txhuam
4:20 Tillering the bow — Zob tus nta hneev kom qhau sib npaug
6:41 Making the trigger — Ntau tus qeb
10:55 Making the arrow shafts — Zob xub
14:49 Making the arrow heads — Ntau lub vos xub
19:52 Heat activate stain — Ncu cov xim tha hneev
20:35 Making bamboo fletching — Ua lub ntxaij xub
22:32 Coat stock and wax prod — Tham xim rau rab hneev
23:08 Making the bowstring — Xuab hlua
26:23 Assembling crossbow — NSrhos rab hneev
26:33 String crossbow — Sam Hneev
27:00 Target practice — Sim Phiaj
28:54 Sharpen arrowheads — Hov vos xub
30:03 Hunting whitetails — Coj mus tua mos lwj

Two years ago, Kuv Yawg (my paternal grandpa) taught me how to build HMong bows, and told me of the time the French occupied Southeast Asia. In communities where Hmong guns were scarce and/or taken by force, the Hmong bowyers there built “Hneev Yim Dos” in order to “Mus Tua Fab Kis.” These stories of Hmong rebellion against French colonizers, by themselves, had already proved to me that I could build a big game Hmong crossbow. But nevertheles, I had to see for myself, because growing up, I had only ever seen Hmong crossbows used for small game. However, throughout this project, and the past two years talking with other Hmong bowyers, I realized why it was so much more common to use a crossbow for small game only: Hmong people had guns for big game! It was that simple. Gunpowder originated from the region we nowadays recognize as “China,” where the HMoob ancestral homelands are; Hmong people were one of the first people to use gunpowder and guns, and have likely been doing so for around a thousand years—gunpowder was first discovered in the 9th century. It is simply much more effective to hunt big game with guns and Hmong people have been doing so for at least, the past several hundred years.

Hmong history can be traced back 5,000 years. And for the past over 4,000 years, the Han Chinese have tried extensively to colonize Hmong people—from literal genocide to political and economic land grabs. So even today, at traditional Hmong funerals, we give the dead a crossbow to bring with them to the afterlife—in VERY short explanation, this is for their protection, as the soul must traverse through physical space AND time in order to return back to the HMong ancestral origin. A journey through time and space in which they will once again, encounter the oppression our HMong ancestors faced in the past. Trying times when they will need a weapon to “ua kwv tij ua kwv luag.” 13 days ofter a funeral, Hmong people also do what is called a “Tso Plig” for the dead, in which again, a crossbow is used. In this sense, there is a certain level of spiritual sacredness to the bow. And this is, generally speaking, how Hmong people have always viewed the world around us. This is a large part of why as a HMoob hunter, filmmaker, and scholar, I choose to include the HMooob practice of Laig Tim Tswv Teb Chaws in this film.

Kuv Yawg also told me about the sambar deer of Southeast Asia: how they are as big as the elk here in the USA! So I am sure this can also be used for elk…again, the math checks out, even though my own insecurities in my craftsmanship say “no!” So that is my next endeavor ;) and there surely will be many more. (Where are my friends out west?! Or my connections at the Wisconsin DNR that can get me one of those super coveted Wisconsin elk tags? haha.)

Txua hneev hmoob thiab zob xib xub mus tua mos lwj. Ntau qeb/qib hlau thiab ntau vos xub. Ua ntxaij xub.