A Hunt Turns Tragic, and Two Cultures Collide

DOBIE, Wis., Nov. 27 - The two gatherings, less than 200 miles apart, seemed to be separated by whole worlds.

In this isolated village deep in the pine and cedar woods of the Upper Midwest, mourners trudged through falling snow on Friday to Our Lady of Lourdes Church to remember one of six hunters, all locals, killed near here a week ago.

To the southwest, across the state line in Minnesota, thousands of Hmong immigrants streamed into a downtown St. Paul auditorium for three days of New Year's festivities with papaya salad, traditional courtship games and young women in dresses covered in gently clinking coins that echoed through the halls.

The only link between the somber Wisconsin gathering, which followed the most violent rampage in anyone's memory here, and the mostly festive Minnesota gathering, one of the most important annual meetings for Hmong people, was a shared concern: the depth of the scars left behind by the shootings last Sunday that left six white hunters from the North Woods dead and a Hmong immigrant from St. Paul in jail, accused in the deaths.

In three decades, St. Paul has drawn at least 25,000 Hmong immigrants, transforming it into what they call the Hmong capital of America. Even there, it has not always been an easy fit, with so many Hmong refugees arriving so rapidly, often with no English and little education or urban job skills. The Hmong are from large farming families from Laos, where the Central Intelligence Agency recruited many of them to be part of an anti-Communist secret army during the Vietnam War.

The northernmost edges of Wisconsin, meanwhile, are made up mostly of people of European descent. Many come from Scandinavian, German, Czech and French Canadian backgrounds.

For all their differences, the native Wisconsin residents and the Asian immigrants from St. Paul share a love of hunting.

For generations of Wisconsin families, the deer season has come to mean a time to bond with friends, to wander the woods and to pass along life's secrets to the next generation. For the Hmong, hunting is one of the rare realms in which America's fast-paced culture meshes neatly with their old ways from Laos, and Hmong elders have come to use it as a chance to share at least one rural cultural tradition with the youngest among them, some of whom never saw the hills of Laos.

In the November deer season, the two groups have often met in the woods and sometimes clashed, but mostly quietly until last Sunday. Some here said they fear those tensions will now grow.

In Wisconsin, mourners said they were still dazed by how a day of deer hunting turned into a killing spree after a group of local hunters confronted Chai Soua Vang, 36, of St. Paul, who, police say, was using their tree stand to hunt on their property.

The police say Mr. Vang, a naturalized citizen and former army national guardsman who immigrated 24 years ago, opened fire on the hunting party after he was told to leave.

Waiting for the start of Friday's funeral service for Mark Roidt, 28, one man turned to another and said, "This is going to be a horrible week."

Mike Katterhagen, another mourner, said he and many of his neighbors felt anger about what happened, but he said, "I don't know if you can place it at who."

Asked if people here have a negative attitude toward Asians or people of other races, Mr. Katterhagen replied, "Personally, I don't." Then he added, "Some people, I think, may have it."

In St. Paul, many at the Hmong New Year events said they feared retribution for the killings. Some said they would not hunt for a while. Many said they were embarrassed by the acts another Hmong-American was accused of, but the case also made them recall experiences with ethnic misunderstanding.

Some said they wondered whether there was more to the case - and thought they might have gained some understanding when they learned Mr. Vang had told the police that the local hunters used ethnic slurs against him and fired at him before he started shooting. A police statement by a hunter wounded in the incident makes no mention of any ethnic slurs.

"I mostly ignore what people call me, but it does hurt." said Va Pao Xiong, a college student in Wisconsin who was celebrating the New Year in St. Paul on Friday. "They have called me 'chink' and things like that. And it makes you wonder whether they even understand who the Hmong people are, where we come from, or what we've been through."

Like many others here, Mr. Xiong, who is 24, has distinct and painful memories of his family's flight from Laos. After Communists won power there, the Hmong people, who had rescued downed American pilots and fought North Vietnamese soldiers, said they found themselves under attack and began fleeing through the jungles, escaping across the Mekong River and ending up as refugees in Thailand and elsewhere.

In part as a show of gratitude for their sacrifice in the Vietnam War, the United States has allowed tens of thousands of Hmong people to come here.

This year, as many as 15,000 more Hmong refugees still waiting at a bleak camp in Thailand called Wat Tham Krabok were granted permission to come to this country. In the past few months, some of them have moved to St. Paul, a city of 300,000.

The new arrivals brought new questions to City Hall from some residents: how could the city, in tough budget times, afford to help more Hmong refugees, especially those who lacked adequate medical, educational and psychological help for years at the camp in Thailand?

A city analysis in January found that 34 percent of Hmong families in St. Paul had incomes below the poverty level in the year 2000, compared with 31 percent in the black community and 20 percent among Hispanics. Home ownership and median income rates showed more positive progress, but the unemployment rate for Hmong people was 8.7 percent, compared with a citywide rate of 5.7 percent.

In September, a poll conducted by The Pioneer Press and Minnesota Public Radio found that Minnesotans, by 42 percent to 37 percent, believed that the cost of helping immigrants start their new lives outweighed their economic, social and other contributions.

"It's difficult to be Hmong-American right now," said Mee Moua, a Hmong in the Minnesota State Senate. "There's an expectation that the Hmong-American community ought to be answerable, or ought to be responsible for this one man's action."

Ms. Moua said that was absurd: "Don't hold our community to blame for something one individual has done."

That sentiment was echoed in Wisconsin, where some mourners, like John Zoellick, said they had not heard any negative comments or slurs against Asians or Hmong people in the days since the killings.

"Any negative feeling is directed toward the one individual, since he did something that is just totally inexcusable," Mr. Zoellick said. "It's not aimed against any group."

Nearly everyone interviewed at the New Year celebrations in St. Paul said they had experienced name-calling at some point. Elee Vang, who is 19 and was crowned Miss Deaf Minnesota this year, said she was once spit at by a white boy on a bus. Workers at Tswvtxos Yang's old manufacturing job used to call him Bruce Lee, he said.

Many said they had been called by the very names Mr. Vang told police the white hunters hollered at him.

In Laos, hunting was always a crucial part of the culture and important for survival, said Cha Vang, the son of Gen. Vang Pao, who worked closely with the C.I.A. in the war and who remains a revered leader of Hmong people in America. (Thousands rose and cheered him in St. Paul when he arrived in the auditorium for New Year festivities.)

"It was different in Laos though," said Mr. Vang, who is no relation to Chai Soua Vang. "You could hunt all year round and there was all public lands."

The restrictions in this country have led to conflicts, with some white people complaining that Hmong people ignore or are unable to read fishing limits, clothing rules and permit requirements.

On the other side, Hmong hunters have complained about mistreatment and harassment by white hunters. Since last Sunday, Ms. Moua said she had received so many reports of such incidents that she was considering calling for public hearings on the issue.

Tou Ger Xiong, a Hmong comedian, rapper and motivational speaker from St. Paul, said his father, who speaks little English, was once approached by a white hunter who simply demanded his gun. He said another white hunter ordered his brother to leave a tree stand he had built on public land, and threatened to use a chainsaw to tear it down.

But people in Wisconsin said that complaints by some Asian hunters of insults or harassment from white hunters were exaggerated.

"I haven't heard any anger against the Hmong," said Patty Behrndt, manager of a bookstore in Rice Lake, the main town in this part of the North Woods. "Not anger, just disbelief and confusion. People aren't able to make out why or how. You hear talk now about racism, but I don't see it."

Laurel Steffes, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said she was unaware of tensions between Hmong and white hunters.

"We've had our ear to the ground since this happened," she said, "and we're not picking up on that at all."

The mourning continued on Saturday, as a funeral for two more of the victims, Robert Crotteau, 42, and his 20-year-old son, Joey, was held in Rice Lake. The Crotteau family is large and well-established here, with the local telephone directory showing 30 listings for that name.

Some arriving mourners said they were still too much in shock to analyze what had happened.

"It's just all so stunning," said one mourner, who gave his name as Aaron. "There's hardly anything else you can feel, not at this point."

In addition to the six people killed, two men were wounded in the shooting. Both attended Mr. Roidt's service on Friday. One of them, Lauren Hesebeck, who wore a blue sling to support his wounded left arm, has told the police that Mr. Vang fired the first shots, according to a police document.

All of the victims lived in or near Rice Lake, a town of 8,300 where many people have known each other since school days, and most of the rest came to escape crowds and enjoy rural life.

In Rice Lake, Greg Swanson and his daughter were hanging lights on their outdoor Christmas tree. Mr. Swanson said he and other people here were "waiting for someone to take us from this unreal situation to some kind of explanation of why a guy would just open up like that."

Along Main Street this weekend, ribbons of bright orange, the color of hunters' jackets, hung above Christmas wreaths along Main Street.

With more funerals running through the weekend and into Monday, Larry Jarvela, the mayor of Rice Lake, was still groping for an explanation.

"We don't have any population of Asians," Mr. Jarvela said, and Census statistics largely bear him out. Here in Barron County, the 2000 census counted just 145 people of Asian descent, less than 1 percent of the population.

Mr. Jarvela said he had never heard about clashes between white and nonwhite hunters, but he added that because northern Wisconsin was very large, "if you happen to have an incident, nobody knows about it."

At last count, a week ago, nearly 645,000 hunting licenses had been issued in this state for the nine-day regular gun season that ends on Sunday. In just the first two days, hunters reported bagging 140,000 deer, Ms. Steffes said.

The Rice Lake City Council here may soon consider a proposal to rename a city park in honor of the six people killed, Mr. Jarvela said. The likely choice for a new name is Hunters' Park.

Stephen Kinzer reported from Dobie for this article, and Monica Davey from St. Paul.

My words were: I haven't heard, but all these third worlders are the same in my book. Islam will eventually act as the rallying point for all the 'disenfranchised'.

This was in response to someone else's question about the relevance of Isalm in a discussion about the multiple murders in Wisconsin by a Hmong man.

We have many immigrants in this country who have no respect for the sacrifices that have been made to secure this Republic. In today's permissive atmosphere, it is considered to be politically incorrect to attempt to educate these newcomers as to our proud heritage. As a result, many who have lived here for generations and have suffered loss in order to water the tree of liberty, resent the dismissive attitude of these third worlders.

If labeling me a racist makes it easier for you to think through a problem, then be my guest.

a person doesn't just shoot at somebody for no reason esp when he is greatly outnumber and alone...think about it, Mr. Vang have a wife and 6 kids..you really think he would risk it all and shoot somebody that told him, "sir you are traspassing, this is private land."? still i think Mr. Vang is toast.let this be a lesson, never disrespect somebody with a loaded gun

Mr. Vang have a wife and 6 kids.

(for what it's worth)He also has a history of beating on his wife.

I think they cursed at him, and he lost it.(the only thing that makes any sense to me)
One way or the other I doubt he'll ever be free.

a person doesn't just shoot at somebody for no reason

Oh, Please. There are hundreds of examples of vermin who have done exactly that.

Not all of them have been successful in convincing a jury they were insane or innocent.

".think about it, Mr. Vang have a wife and 6 kids..you really think he would risk it all and shoot somebody that told him, "sir you are traspassing, this is private land."?"

Yeh, think about it. Mr. Vang abused his wife. He threatened her with a gun. No one shot at Vang until he fired first and no one verbally assaulted the murderous moron. He's a killer at heart, because people didn't bow down and praise him for all his failures. I got news for you, folks like the ones that were killed don't aggitate for trouble. People like Vang do it all the time, but only to peple he knows he can kill and get away with it. Notice the coward picks on women and those that appear as easy victims. When he's done killing he goes back to hiding his crime and play acting the victim con.

"There are hundreds of examples of vermin who have done exactly that."

He apparently missed reports of the DC sniper attacks, the MN art student at UW Stout and various other less publicised senseless attacks.

I'm betting on the single lunatic theory, but the newspaper wants me to think that this Hmong was somehow "a representative of his culture", I guess.

THANK you. You saved me saying one single further word about this incident.

its interesting to see alot of you freeper getting upset about the hmong(i'm sorry that it turned out to be a hmong) . What if the shooter is white..would you be less upset. Believe it or not, i'll admit this, i'm a Hmong. Born in Laos, trek to(group of 200 i think) thailand..and here is i am in the US of A(currectly residing in mexifornia),now that you know (:O))..i think Mr. Vang will never get out,no way that i can see, since he admitted it. 6 lives taken, no matter who shot first, Mr. Vang overeacted(me think) and crossed the line..but i wasn't there so its all speculation

Billy, HE brought it up in his statement to the police. HE started by playing the race card.

I'm NOT Hmong...but I've been called names, too. There is NO WAY I'd consider, even remotely, doing what he did.

I'm tired...I don't want to argue. Just please, be compassionate for the families, OK? They've lost a lot. That community has lost a lot.

The restrictions in this country have led to conflicts, with some white people complaining that Hmong people ignore or are unable to read fishing limits, clothing rules and permit requirements.

Unable to read the material? My, isn't that a convenient little excuse!

What if the shooter is white..would you be less upset.

Mr. Billly. I would be upset regardless of the color of the sniper and the color of the victims.

I believe ALL human life holds the same value.

I am upset because these hunters were bushwacked in cold blood. My husband and 3 sons are avid hunters. I shudder to think about them taking to the woods to hunt next week.

In their absence, I will be keeping a close eye on the areas of our property where they ARE NOT hunting,, and everytime I go out to run trespassers off our property, I will now go armed and ready to defend myself if necessary.

No, no, no! It's not about culture! And, please, let's not throw around the "murder" word so freely!

This guy killed all those people because they called him names.

It's all about being called names. It seems that everyone of the immigrants interviewed had been called names. The writer seems to think that victims of name-calling incidents are entitled to extreme reactions.

So, I've been called names. Is there a support group or maybe some federal funding available for counseling? Or, maybe I should just stay home so I won't be exposed to name-calling? /close sarcasm

Or, maybe, some of these people should just grow the freak up!! Maybe they should just say this guy (do not insert culture, skin color or background here) is a stone cold killer. Maybe some things cannot be blamed on society.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.