Life style : Cousin

The Hmong family network in Thailand: The various Hmong ancestral lines found in Thailand The Ree: Green or black Hmong Tao: Green or black Hmong Yang: Black or green Hmong Ma or Hang: Black or green Hmong Weu: White Hmong and some Weu lines are Gua Maba Hmong Fa: White Hmong Wang: White Hmong and some lines are green or black Hmong (The Ree and Ma family lines believe themselves to be related to one another by way of their great grandmothers and grandfathers, and thus they are forbidden to marry one another. Legend has it there was once a young man of the Ma lineage and a young woman of the Ree lineage who met and fell in love, unaware of the fact that they were related. This would have been quite possible as Hmong live among the mountains and are spread far apart from one another. The couple ran off and began living together. When the elders discovered this, however, they came in and split the two apart, explaining that they were cousins and could not marry one another. Heartbroken, the couple decided to run off and die together. When the villagers found the bodies of the two lovers they decided to bury them together. Thus, it was ordered that members of the Ree and Ma families should be forbidden from marrying one another, as they consider themselves to be cousins. These days, intermarriage between these two family lines has begun to happen, but a formal ceremony to separate one's self from one's relatives must be done before the marriage will be allowed. Ranking of relatives and how to address family members: Yeurgong: Father's father Yeur: Grandfather (Father's side) Jeu: Husband's father Bpoo: Grandmother (Father's side) Naw: Husband's mother (or you can call her Bpoo) Naw dtai: Mother's mother Jeudang: Mother's older brother (or younger brother is ok too)

Addressing wife's relatives		Addressing husband's relatives
Relationship	Address them as	Relationship	Address them as
Wife's father or father of grandfather (mother's side)	Yeur dtai	Husband's father's grandfather (Father's side)	Yeurgong
Wife's mother or mother of grandmother (mother's side)	Naw dtai	Husband's father or grandfather (father's side)	Jeu
Wife's older brother	Jeu dtang	Husband's mother	Naw
Wife's younger brother	Jeu dtang	Husband's older brother	Lao (Call them by name after the word lao)
Wife's older sister	Dtai lao	Husband's younger brother	Jeu jeur-eei (Call them by name after the word jeu)
Wife's younger sister	Dtai roo-ah	Husband's older sister	Bpoo ngan (Call them by name after the word bpoo ngan )
Wife's older sister-in-law	Naw dtang	Husband's younger sister	Bpoo ngan (Call them by name after the word bpoo ngan )
Wife's younger sister-in-law	Naw dtang