Hmong Village Replicas

About three years ago, Wa Yong Thao had the opportunity to embark on making his long-time dream a reality. It is something no other Hmong person had undertaken thus far. He truly has a market niche in the creation of these products. They are miniature reproductions of Hmong villages and towns from the highlands of Laos. He meticulously fashions each and every one of these villages to the exactness of the actual ones in Laos. He stated that anyone who sees his creations could pin point the location of that person’s home within his model. That is the consistency he strives to achieve for each of his one of a kind piece of work. One would need to see them in order to appreciate the arduous time spent on making and perfecting each village/town.

Thao is married to Sia Moua and has seven children; three sons and four daughters. The two older daughters are married and still live in Laos with their spouses and children. The others are here in Minnesota with him and his wife. Thao stated that his youngest son, Chi Ki helps him the most. Chi Ki is the one with the most patience to assist him in reproducing these village models. The second youngest son, Chi Nou, also helps but does not have the patience necessary to recreate the items which comprised the village. Thao laughed that his children often asked “how he can have the patience to painstakingly craft each piece that makes up the village while at the same time not have that kind of patience with them.”

Many colleges and schools have ordered these village replicas from Wa Yong Thao. Concordia College is Thao’s biggest client. Each village is an original handcrafted design made specially to order. Every piece differs from the one before. When asked how Thao knew the villages so well, he replied, “I lived and spent a lot of time there, which allowed me to imprint the different aspects of the villages in my mind. As a result, I am able to accurately create these villages from memory.” When he started making these models in 2008, he finally lived his dream.

Thao came up with the idea to replicate Hmong villages after seeing similar models used in military tactical planning during a visit to Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam when he was a young man. After seeing a model of the city, he realized that it would be a good idea to create Hmong villages in the same fashion so Hmong people can have them available to view as they pleased. When asked what sort of training or background he has in this area, he said he did not have any formal training. He just visualized it and made it. He uses mainly foam to recreate the village surroundings and woods. He said it is time-consuming and not something typical consumers would buy. Mainly, they are a one-time buy for organizations and schools for display purposes. Very few individuals purchase these village models.

It took a couple of decades to realize Thao’s dreams. Had it not been for Thao’s unfortunate job loss, he may never have had the time to follow his dreams and make them come true. Thao only started making these replicas after he lost his job in 2007. Upon his arrival in the United States in 2001, he had been working full-time and did not have time to pursue this dream. What they say about one door closing and another one opening is truly at work here. Had Thao not had the misfortune of losing his job, this dream of his may not have materialized.

The prices for each village model ranges from $200 for a 12”X12” model to over $8,000 for a 4’X6’ model. When asked how long it takes to complete one whole village, Thao said, “It depends on the size of the village. It took two months to complete the huge 4’X6’ Long Cheng model. I am proud of the fact that anyone who sees my replicas can find his/her home amongst the model I reproduced. Every model is done by my hand. I even custom make the framed which encases the models.”

Thao recently expanded to making tsev txawb kauj vab tso plig. These are homes people would buy to offer up to their deceased parents in a ceremony following the funerals. He puts the same painstaking care in building these homes for clients as he did in making the village models. This idea came about when he was asked by a relative to make one for the relative. When others saw it at the ceremony, people requested him to reproduce more. These houses average around $2,000 each and take about two weeks to complete. Each house is carefully crafted to resemble an actual house. It looks just like a furnished model home that real estate agents show to clients. Every last detail is apparent in the model. Thao stated that if children buy these houses he made for this occasion, other people would commend them for taking the effort to obtain such a nice house for their deceased parents. Not only that, the house is representative of the one their deceased parents would have in the afterlife.

Anyone interested in seeing his Long Cheng model can do so at his location at Hmong Marketplace on Como Ave in Saint Paul. He can be reached at 651-434-4391 or 651- 808-5989.

By Pa Lee