Describes resettlement experiences of Vietnamese and Kurdish refugees in Winnepeg, Manitoba. The study uses a holistic approach relying on the ecological model of Strickland and Hamner. Also applied are theories by Belk and Holt which analyze the refugee experience through exploration of clothing and housing consumption as “regained possessions.” Focus groups were held with 12 Kurdish refugees and 13 Vietnamese refugees. For each set of refugees, the topics centered on subsystems of politics and economics, education, and socio-culture. While both groups experienced problems in securing employment due to poor English language skills, the Kurds, the smaller of the two groups, faced the added limitation of lacking an existing well-established Kurdish community to assist them. Kurdish families stayed together and maintained customs such as non-Western dress for women, arranged marriages, and gender-determined assignment of household duties. By contrast, Vietnamese women had more autonomy and stronger feelings about wearing more stylish Western clothing. Children for both groups were more immersed in mainstream culture through formal schooling. All the refugees viewed having to rent their living space, when they had previously been landowners, as a loss of status. Both groups experienced disappointment over lack of opportunities for economic self-sufficiency. Professionals in the field of human ecology could work with refugees directly as well as serve as their policy advocates. (17 references)
