Nicholas Tapp is senior fellow in anthropology at the Australian National University. Jean Michaud is associate researcher in Asian studies at Université de Montréal. Christian Culas is a member of the National Center for Scientific Research in Marseille. Gary Yia Lee is senior ethnic liaison officer for New South Wales.

• ForewordIntroductionPart 1: Issues of History, Language and IdentityHistory1. The State of Hmong Studies (An Essay on Bibliography)--Nicholas Tapp2. From Culture Circle to Cultural Ecology: The Hmong/Miao as reflected in German and Austrian Anthropology--Christian Postert3. A Contribution to the Study of Hmong (Miao) Migrations and History--Christian Culas and Jean Michaud4. Innovation and Tradition in Rituals and Cosmology: Hmong Messianism and Shamanism in Southeast Asia--Christian CulasLanguage5. Pa-hng and the Classification of the Hmong-Mien Languages--Barbara Niederer6. Vocabulary of Environment and Subsistence in the Hmong-Mien Protolanguage--Martha Rafliff7. A Note on the Ethno-Semantics of Proverb Usage in Mong Njua (Green Hmong)--Thomas Amis Lyman8. Problems in the Interpretation of Hmong Surnames--Kao-ly YangIdentity9. The A Hmao in Northest Yunnan and Northwest Guizhou Provinces: Perspectives on the Encounter with the A Hmao from some Western Protestant Missionaries--R. Alison Lewis10. Miao Identity in Western Guizhou: China during the Republican Period--Cheung Siu-Woo11. Hmong/Miao Transnationality: Identity beyond Culture--Louisa ScheinPart 2: Current IssuesVietnam12. Hmong and the Land Question in Vietnam: National Policy and Local Concepts of the Environment--Claes Corlin13. The Hmong and Forest Management in Northern Vietnam's Mountainous Areas--Vuong Duy QuangThailand14. Ntoo Xeeb: Cultural Redefinition for Forest Conservation among the Hmong in Thailand--Prasit Leepreecha15. Following Hmong Cultural Pathways for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS: Notes from the Field--Patricia V. Symonds16. Hmong Marriage Patterns in Thailand in Relation to Social Change--Peter Kunstadter17. Rape: Perceptions and Processes of Hmong Customary Law--Robert CooperLaos18. Transnational Adaptation: An Overview of the Hmong of Laos--Gar Yia Lee19. The Hmong and Development in the Lao People's Democratic Republic--Jan OvesenEpilogue20. Hmong Refugees from Laos: The Challenge of Social Change--Yang DaoIndexNotes on Contributors