New project captures untold stories of Hmong elder women in Minnesota
Richard Leonard Schultz (right) takes a photo of a Hmong elder as part of project to preserve their stories.
Courtesy Pang Yang
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2025 marks 50 years since Hmong people started immigrating to Minnesota. To commemorate the milestone, a local organization is working to preserve the stories of 50 years and beyond.
Minnesota Zej Zog, a nonprofit that works to preserve Hmong culture, is opening an exhibit this weekend in St. Paul called “Of Distance and Time.” The exhibit captures the stories of Hmong moms, grandmothers and aunts over the age of 65.
Executive director of Minnesota Zej Zog Pang Yang and photographer Richard Leonard Schultz joined Minnesota Now to talk about the project.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: It's Minnesota now. I'm Nina Moini. And 2025 is an important anniversary for the Hmong community. It marks 50 years from when Hmong people started immigrating to Minnesota to commemorate the milestone a local organization is working to preserve the stories of the last 50 years and beyond. Minnesota Zej Zog is opening an exhibit this weekend in Saint Paul called Of Distance and Time. It captures Hmong moms, grandmothers, aunties, other respected elders over the age of 65, and their stories.
Joining me now in the studio-- so excited to have you here-- are two people who are a critical part of this project. Pang Yang is the executive director of Minnesota's Zej Zog. Thank you for being here, Pang.
PANG YANG: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: And also joining me is Richard Schultz, the photographer behind this project. Thank you both for being here. I'd like to start with you, Pang, if I could. For people who are maybe unfamiliar with the rich history of the Hmong community here in Minnesota and in the twin cities, tell us a little bit about why it's important to mark this 50 year anniversary.
PANG YANG: In a blink of a time-- in a blink of a short time, I can't believe where it's already been 50 years. And when you think about 50 years, it seems so short.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
PANG YANG: But it also seems so long. But so much has happened within that 50 years. And so knowing that our elders are passing away daily, we have to capture the memories that are left.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. 50 years is a generation or two. People can still remember, in many cases, 50 years back. So you're right. It's rich with history, but it's also not that long of a time. We often hear stories of men who might have served in the secret war. But this project focuses on women. Why was that important to you?
PANG YANG: Knowing that there are so many other narratives that are missing in the community, and knowing that Hmong women, Hmong mothers, Hmong grandmothers have been a critical-- are critical people within the journey of the Hmong people that it's like, we need to capture these stories, these images, before it's too late.
NINA MOINI: And, Richard, what were you thinking when you were first asked to be a part of this project? What was your feelings about it and how you wanted to approach it?
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Well, one of the things that I originally thought of was the immigrant story, the true immigrant story. And that is also our families and everybody else's family here. So one of the things that was unique was the opportunity to photograph these incredible elders, that their stories are kind of untold in the general population. We don't always hear that. And even within the families themselves, we're finding during our process that stories were being told that the families had never heard before while the elders were discussing those things. So being able to have them come to light or come forward and tell those important stories that are of historical importance is really a guiding light to what I was looking into.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. If we don't chronicle things, if we don't photograph things and save them in an organized way, that's how you lose history over time. Pang, are there any stories or anything that really stood out to you or surprised you about interacting with these women in this way and in this format?
PANG YANG: I actually went to several of the sessions. And I was able to sit in to listen to some of the stories. And it's things that you would never realize that it's like it would never be important to me. But to them, it's everything. It's their lived experience. It holds so much value to them. And for some of the adult children to come in and listen to those stories and hear for the first time or say, well, I didn't even know that story, mom--
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
PANG YANG: --is just priceless. So it's watching from the back end. It's been just so eye opening as well.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, sometimes if you really sit and consciously say to someone, tell me your story, it's amazing what you'll find out, even if you've known them for years. And I understand, Pang, that this is going to be going even further and larger into lesson plans for schools? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
PANG YANG: Yeah. So we have another grant where we're actually gathering veterans' stories and so forth and turning some of those stories into lesson plans. And we said, you know what? While we're at it with this project, the teachers working that project, why don't we turn the stories that are on the Of Distance and Time website, why don't we turn them into lesson plans as well so that they can continue to live into the stories of the classrooms of our Hmong language teachers or history teachers? Anyone can utilize them into the classroom so that these stories live on for how many ever more generations to come.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And I want to ask you both the same question. I'll start with you, Richard. What do you hope people take away from this exhibit?
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Well, I hope that people realize that people are people in all forms, right? And when people come in and see these images, my hope is that they say, oh, my gosh, it would be wonderful for my grandma to have this, these types of images, and to have that and to realize that when we look into the past, into the pictures of the 1800s, some people would save their money to take that one picture in their lifetime of them in their one set of good clothes. Some of this stuff, everybody has a billion pictures on their phone. And nobody looks at any of them.
NINA MOINI: Right, and some of the intentionality behind it can be missing when we're all just snapping away.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: What about you, Pang? What do you hope people take away from this exhibit? Hmong people and people who are not Hmong.
PANG YANG: Yeah. I was thinking a lot, too. And I'm like, I'm going to bring a lot of boxes of Kleenex because it is going to be very emotional to go into the exhibit and see the stories through a different lens and to be able to meet these women on Saturday. I'm going to get to meet majority of these women throughout the day.
And it's going to be just something that I don't know if it will ever happen again, and with this feeling that I anticipate people taking with them. But I also think that through the through the experience that if there's been any adult children or children who have had not a very close relationship with their mom, I think people are going to go back home. And it's going to open a different door for them.
NINA MOINI: Do you hear some of that feedback already from Hmong multigenerational families that are reacting to this? And are they feeling grateful? Are they feeling excited?
PANG YANG: Oh, yeah.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
PANG YANG: So much. And I can't even think Richard enough because I know the grant doesn't even pay Richard's time and his expertise enough for this. And I know that every single person that has come through has only been one adult child. And bring the whole family there-- oh, my god. It's just going to be priceless.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, yeah. Richard, tell us about the event on Saturday.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: OK, the event will be take-- Of Distance and Time is what it's called. You can find information ofdistanceandtime.com is the website. It will be at Vandalia Tower from noon to 9 o'clock. It will have some small thank yous at 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 7 o'clock.
NINA MOINI: OK.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: It is open to the public. It is a free event. Please feel free to come. I think we might even have some surprise entertainment going on during things.
NINA MOINI: Pang is shaking-- she's nodding her head like, oh, yeah. [LAUGHS]
RICHARD SCHULTZ: And that will just kind of happen naturally through the day, I believe. But I think it's an opportunity for a lot of people to come out and just see how much beauty and strength and wisdom that these ladies have and really take something away from that.
NINA MOINI: All right. Richard, Pang, I want to thank you both so much for your time and for sharing your work with all of us. Congratulations. It's going to be a great event.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Thank you.
PANG YANG: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Pang Yang is the executive director of Minnesota Zej Zog. Richard Schultz is the photographer for the Of Distance and Time project. You can see the exhibit this Saturday again in Saint Paul. We'll have the information online as well.
Joining me now in the studio-- so excited to have you here-- are two people who are a critical part of this project. Pang Yang is the executive director of Minnesota's Zej Zog. Thank you for being here, Pang.
PANG YANG: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: And also joining me is Richard Schultz, the photographer behind this project. Thank you both for being here. I'd like to start with you, Pang, if I could. For people who are maybe unfamiliar with the rich history of the Hmong community here in Minnesota and in the twin cities, tell us a little bit about why it's important to mark this 50 year anniversary.
PANG YANG: In a blink of a time-- in a blink of a short time, I can't believe where it's already been 50 years. And when you think about 50 years, it seems so short.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
PANG YANG: But it also seems so long. But so much has happened within that 50 years. And so knowing that our elders are passing away daily, we have to capture the memories that are left.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. 50 years is a generation or two. People can still remember, in many cases, 50 years back. So you're right. It's rich with history, but it's also not that long of a time. We often hear stories of men who might have served in the secret war. But this project focuses on women. Why was that important to you?
PANG YANG: Knowing that there are so many other narratives that are missing in the community, and knowing that Hmong women, Hmong mothers, Hmong grandmothers have been a critical-- are critical people within the journey of the Hmong people that it's like, we need to capture these stories, these images, before it's too late.
NINA MOINI: And, Richard, what were you thinking when you were first asked to be a part of this project? What was your feelings about it and how you wanted to approach it?
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Well, one of the things that I originally thought of was the immigrant story, the true immigrant story. And that is also our families and everybody else's family here. So one of the things that was unique was the opportunity to photograph these incredible elders, that their stories are kind of untold in the general population. We don't always hear that. And even within the families themselves, we're finding during our process that stories were being told that the families had never heard before while the elders were discussing those things. So being able to have them come to light or come forward and tell those important stories that are of historical importance is really a guiding light to what I was looking into.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. If we don't chronicle things, if we don't photograph things and save them in an organized way, that's how you lose history over time. Pang, are there any stories or anything that really stood out to you or surprised you about interacting with these women in this way and in this format?
PANG YANG: I actually went to several of the sessions. And I was able to sit in to listen to some of the stories. And it's things that you would never realize that it's like it would never be important to me. But to them, it's everything. It's their lived experience. It holds so much value to them. And for some of the adult children to come in and listen to those stories and hear for the first time or say, well, I didn't even know that story, mom--
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
PANG YANG: --is just priceless. So it's watching from the back end. It's been just so eye opening as well.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, sometimes if you really sit and consciously say to someone, tell me your story, it's amazing what you'll find out, even if you've known them for years. And I understand, Pang, that this is going to be going even further and larger into lesson plans for schools? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
PANG YANG: Yeah. So we have another grant where we're actually gathering veterans' stories and so forth and turning some of those stories into lesson plans. And we said, you know what? While we're at it with this project, the teachers working that project, why don't we turn the stories that are on the Of Distance and Time website, why don't we turn them into lesson plans as well so that they can continue to live into the stories of the classrooms of our Hmong language teachers or history teachers? Anyone can utilize them into the classroom so that these stories live on for how many ever more generations to come.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And I want to ask you both the same question. I'll start with you, Richard. What do you hope people take away from this exhibit?
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Well, I hope that people realize that people are people in all forms, right? And when people come in and see these images, my hope is that they say, oh, my gosh, it would be wonderful for my grandma to have this, these types of images, and to have that and to realize that when we look into the past, into the pictures of the 1800s, some people would save their money to take that one picture in their lifetime of them in their one set of good clothes. Some of this stuff, everybody has a billion pictures on their phone. And nobody looks at any of them.
NINA MOINI: Right, and some of the intentionality behind it can be missing when we're all just snapping away.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: What about you, Pang? What do you hope people take away from this exhibit? Hmong people and people who are not Hmong.
PANG YANG: Yeah. I was thinking a lot, too. And I'm like, I'm going to bring a lot of boxes of Kleenex because it is going to be very emotional to go into the exhibit and see the stories through a different lens and to be able to meet these women on Saturday. I'm going to get to meet majority of these women throughout the day.
And it's going to be just something that I don't know if it will ever happen again, and with this feeling that I anticipate people taking with them. But I also think that through the through the experience that if there's been any adult children or children who have had not a very close relationship with their mom, I think people are going to go back home. And it's going to open a different door for them.
NINA MOINI: Do you hear some of that feedback already from Hmong multigenerational families that are reacting to this? And are they feeling grateful? Are they feeling excited?
PANG YANG: Oh, yeah.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
PANG YANG: So much. And I can't even think Richard enough because I know the grant doesn't even pay Richard's time and his expertise enough for this. And I know that every single person that has come through has only been one adult child. And bring the whole family there-- oh, my god. It's just going to be priceless.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, yeah. Richard, tell us about the event on Saturday.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: OK, the event will be take-- Of Distance and Time is what it's called. You can find information ofdistanceandtime.com is the website. It will be at Vandalia Tower from noon to 9 o'clock. It will have some small thank yous at 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 7 o'clock.
NINA MOINI: OK.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: It is open to the public. It is a free event. Please feel free to come. I think we might even have some surprise entertainment going on during things.
NINA MOINI: Pang is shaking-- she's nodding her head like, oh, yeah. [LAUGHS]
RICHARD SCHULTZ: And that will just kind of happen naturally through the day, I believe. But I think it's an opportunity for a lot of people to come out and just see how much beauty and strength and wisdom that these ladies have and really take something away from that.
NINA MOINI: All right. Richard, Pang, I want to thank you both so much for your time and for sharing your work with all of us. Congratulations. It's going to be a great event.
RICHARD SCHULTZ: Thank you.
PANG YANG: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Pang Yang is the executive director of Minnesota Zej Zog. Richard Schultz is the photographer for the Of Distance and Time project. You can see the exhibit this Saturday again in Saint Paul. We'll have the information online as well.
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