The Vietnamese Community in Albuquerque

Overview and Brief History:
The country of Vietnam occupies a long “S” shaped strip of land bordered on the north by China, on the east and south by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by Cambodia and Laos. The Vietnamese compare this country to the shape of a dragon which symbolizes both the national unity and the national union. It has served as a powerful bond in giving the Vietnamese a sense of a common heritage and cultural unity, and has provided a symbol around which they could rally in the face of foreign invaders.

As with many cultures, the ancient history of Vietnam is one of a long succession of dynasties and invasions. The Red River in the north of Vietnam is considered to be the cradle of Vietnamese culture. The original Vietnamese are thought to have come from the north and worked their way slowly south over several thousand years. China has had an enormous impact on the country over the centuries and most of Vietnamese history has been one continual and repetitive cycle of periods of Chinese political domination followed by insurrections installing short-lived Vietnamese dynasties in power.

The short periods where Vietnamese dynasties ruled the country were often filled with even shorter reigns of kings who plotted and assassinated each other or who were installed as puppets on the throne by others. Continual warfare between the dynasties in North and the Champa in the South also contributed to the county’s instability. Following their defeat of the Chinese Sung dynasty, the Mongol army under the command of Kublai Khan demanded passage through Vietnam to conquer the Champa to the south. When the Vietnamese refused, a war ensued during which the vastly outnumbered Vietnamese people miraculously managed to repulse the Mongol army.

During the fifteenth century, the Chinese made a serious effort to dominate and denationalize the Vietnamese population once and for all. Vietnam’s great literary and historical works were removed to China and Chinese classics were substituted for instruction in schools. Vietnamese women were forced to wear Chinese clothing and men had to let hair grow long in the Chinese style. All traditional customs, such as betel chewing, were forbidden, and local religious rites were replaced by the Chinese ones. The Vietnamese people were forced into labor extracting the countries natural resources for export to China and harsh taxes were enacted. A long and protracted guerilla war against the Chinese soon ensued and the giant was eventually defeated and the Vietnamese regained independence; although they were forced to pay a triennial tribute to China.

In the sixteenth century Christianity was first introduced to Vietnam. The Romanized Quoác-Ngöõ script was developed by the Portuguese Jesuit Missionary Alexandre-de-Rhodes; and this form of writing supplanted the Chinese-type Noâm characters in Vietnam.

The eighteenth century saw Vietnamese hegemony finally advancing on the rich lands along the Mekong Delta. The Cambodians who inhabited the region were easily supplanted by the Vietnamese. By the nineteenth century, hostility toward the ever encroaching West increased and edicts against the intrusions of foreigners, specially Christian Missionaries, were issued. A subsequent invasion by the French to defy these edicts finally led to the signing of treaties, in 1862 and 1874, which made Vietnam part of the French colonial empire. The new entity was called French Indochina, and included two other kingdoms: Cambodia and Laos.

After the fall of France in 1940, the Vichy government retained authority over Indochina until the occupying Japanese assumed power in 1945. After the defeat of Japan in August 1945, the Viet Minh forces under Hoà Chí Minh, established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Tonkin as the Chinese Nationalist Armed Forces entered Tonkin to disarm the Japanese. At the same time, French troops landed to re-occupy their former colony and immediately encountered fierce resistance by Vietnamese nationalists, determined to protect their new independence.

In December of 1946, Viet Minh forces attacked the French on a wide front and began war which lasted for eight years. The war ended in 1954 with the Geneva Agreement which divided the Vietnam at the 17th parallel into two parts: the Northern Communist and the Southern nationalist.

In spite of the Geneva Agreement’s cessation of hostilities, the Communists in the North continued to organize, direct, and supply armed forces operating against the South. Because of this, U.S. President Eisenhower in 1954 decided to assist the government of South Vietnam in resisting aggression from the North. In 1962, President Kennedy, at the request of the South Vietnamese government, established the U.S. Military Assistance Command and in 1963, two days after the death of President Kennedy, President Johnson reaffirmed the US intention to continue military and economic support for South Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin incident soon followed and the U.S. became embroiled in an intractable war during which many thousands of American soldiers and several million Vietnamese perished or were wounded.

In late 1969, President Nixon announced a Vietnamization policy whose intent was to transfer the responsibility of fighting to South Vietnamese Forces. The last U.S. troops finally left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, officially ending a direct role by the U.S. military. Massive numbers of North Vietnamese troops soon launched attacks against South Vietnamese government and by 1975, South Vietnam had fallen to the Communists.

Immigration to the United States and Albuquerque:
Vietnamese immigration to the United States did not begin in earnest until the fall of South Vietnam to the Communists in 1975. There was limited prior immigration during the war as some American soldiers returned home with war brides; but Vietnamese immigration into the U.S. was negligible before the 1960's. The case was the same in Albuquerque, which did not see its first Vietnamese immigrant until 1972, when an American serviceman brought his Vietnamese wife and stepchildren to Kirtland Air Force Base.

During the two years following the 1975 defeat of South Vietnam, the U.S. State Department had a resettlement program that brought approximately 3,000 Vietnamese to New Mexico. There was sporadic but light immigration after this as refugee “boat people” joined family and friends who were already in Albuquerque. It wasn’t until the1989, when the State Department changed its policy and allowed open immigration from Vietnam, that immigration to Albuquerque increased to its current level. These newer immigrants tend to be older, educated men. Many served in the Vietnamese army and were interred as political prisoners in re-education camps following the war.

Cultural Traditions:
Language is an important aspect of the Vietnamese culture and many are concerned that it is being lost. However, this culture is still recently arrived enough so that most of them still speak their native language at home. The Vietnamese Community Association has worked to get language classes for children born in the U.S. established at a middle school and elementary school in Albuquerque.

Vietnamese cuisine is very popular in Albuquerque and there are a number of Vietnamese restaurants primarily located in the southeast quadrant of the city. As with most Asian nations, rice is a staple in the Vietnamese diet; but Vietnamese cooking has also been largely influenced by a mix of Chinese, Thai and French cuisine, with lesser influences from Portugal and India. A Vietnamese family meal usually consists of two dishes; one of soup either a sour type or a Chinese style one, and a main course which may be made of vegetables, fish, poultry or a meat dish, accompanied by rice and often a salad. he Vietnamese use bowls and eat with chop sticks.Typical cooking implements are a wok, steamer and a large saucepan for boiling.

Artistic Traditions:
Artistic cultural traditions that are practiced in the Vietnamese community include dance, poetry, jewelry making, and embroidery. There are people in the community who have performed the Lion and Dragon dances for public events. The Vietnamese versions of these dances are the similar to the Chinese, but with a slightly different beat. Ballroom dance, so popular in Vietnam, continues its popularity here. Poetry is considered to be a very important everyday aspect of Vietnamese culture. There is a highly talented Vietnamese jewelry designer working in Albuquerque. Some women in the community sew and/or paint design on dresses.

Annual Events and Celebrations:
Tet Nguyen Dan, the Lunar New Year, is a time for ritual celebration in Vietnamese culture. It occurs during the first full moon prior to planting in the spring and it is considered a time for sharing with the dead. The ancestors come back to the house to visit and protect the family. In the past, the Albuquerque Vietnamese community would hold the Lunar New Year’s celebrations at either the Holy Ghost Church, an Armory, or at union halls, depending on what was available. Because of the labor and cost of the celebration, the community has not had a public New Year’s celebration for several years. Another day that some in the community observe is Tet Trung Nguyen, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month of the year, which is considered to be a “ghost day” similar to Halloween. The spirits return on that day and people pray and make tea for them.

Annually on April 30th, the community holds a Memorial Day commemorating the journey to America and the people who perished on their way here from Vietnam. It is also a commemoration of the patriots who fought in the Vietnamese War.

Conclusions:
Many in the Vietnamese community feel that it currently lacks leadership. In order to organize and obtain resources, they need active leaders who will take the initiative to keep cultural events going. In the past there was a Vietnamese radio program and a newspaper, but no one in the community stepped forward to continue them.

The Asian American Association and the Vietnamese Mutual Assistance Association are two organizations in Albuquerque that serve the interests of Vietnamese residents.