This object is the hmong knife. It is a handmade tool used to do many things. It can be used to cut wood, bamboo, and chop meat. According to my grandfather the knife was not a tool, but a weapon to him. He was a soldier in the Secret Vietnam War. He said he had killed one person with a knife by throwing it and three others with a gun. He felt very terrified after that kill and didn’t think that he would not survive another death. But then he said that his wife, my grandma was what he thought of and had to shoot his gun for her and his family.  But for me I think it’s a tool. These knives are made by blacksmiths hand making it. My grandmother said she uses these knives to shop up and slice up meat to cook. I would always say that I liked was the boiled chicken and my grandma would say that she would make it every time I go over. I always looked and watch my grandma make it. My favorite food when she cooks is when she chops up the chicken into pieces and boils them. When we ua neeb, a traditional thing in the hmong culture, I see the men chopping up the pig in pieces in the garage. What I was thinking in my mind was, “man, I don’t want to do that when I grow up.” But eventually I will have to. 
 

– Aiden Xiong

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more