On June 8th, the project team hosted an event to gather invested Hmong community members in the Sacramento area at the UC Davis Herbarium to visit the collection of Hmong traditional plants, including those recently collected with Mao Lee. Nine attendees, joined for their collaboration and partnership, included Mao and her family and See See, an incoming student in Plant Sciences. Two undergraduate students assisted with recording the event. The gathering was also welcome to Hmong students to join. 

Alison Colwell, curator for the Center of Plant Diversity, gave a tour of the herbarium and showed how the Hmong plant collection was stored and categorized with other plant vouchers. After seeing that, we walked into the room to look at displays and Hmong artwork from a previously curated exhibition of the scientific and cultural roots of plants significant to Hmong people. This also sparked conversation and storytelling. Then, the main session was sitting down at a table and to view together plant vouchers of culturally relevant Hmong plants. Dr. Ga Young Chung and Will McMahan co-facilitated the conversation and asked questions. We heard stories and experiences with the plants, and more related thoughts were shared in discussion about uses.  

Each person was invited to share their reflections around the table at the end of the three hour event. It went from as simple as how they felt, to deeper heartfelt sentiments about the intergenerational work that’s important to them; and their worry and care about community, especially for younger and future generations.