Context (Field collection)
Purchased by the donor (Honorary Assistant Curator (Americas) since 1979) in 1987 in Cacao village, near Cayenne during a field trip while attending a congress for the International Association for the Study of Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles (now the 'International Association for Caribbean Archaeology) in Guiana. It cost 500 francs.
Event Date 1987
Author: Rachel hand

Context (Analysis)
'It was to this village that the Hmong, inhabitants of North Vietnam were led in in 1971 just after the Vietminh took power. They sought hospitality from the former colonial power, France. The Hmong were farmers, In Cacao in a forest environment that was similar to ythe ones they had left behind, they started doing what they knew how to do, planting vegetables. Today, Cacao has become the vegetable producer for the whole of French Guiana. The Hmong have integrated while retaining their language and customs, They are a fairly inward-looking society, They have preserved their tradtiions of lifestyle and production of material goods, particularly weaving.'
From information shared with Mary Hill Harris in October 2025 by Henry Petitjean Roget, who organised the conference in 1987
Event Date 10/2025
Author: Rachel hand

Description (Physical description)
Embroidered textile. Square of cotton cloth with blue frame, with colourful animals sewn in the middle.
Event Date 18/11/2025
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu