Describes the steps involved in and the lessons learned from a project aimed at exploring how mediation training might be used to reconcile Hmong cultural traditions and Minnesota divorce law. Of all the immigrant and refugee communities living in the United States, the Hmong probably have experienced the most radical transition – from a nomadic, completely autonomous, patrilineal clan society to an industrialized society defined by individual rather than community achievement. For the Hmong, marriage is itself a relationship of clans rather than simply a relationship between an individual husband and wife. Like marriage, divorce is a negotiated process largely controlled by clan elders. The Hmong United International Council of Minnesota decided that family mediation training was essential to both address a climbing divorce rate in its community and mesh centuries-old traditions with principles of contemporary family law. As a result of the training, 28 Hmong elders are on the roster of family mediators maintained by the Minnesota State Supreme Court, and efforts are under way to use mediation to complement the traditional functions of clan elders. Through mediation, cultural norms can be considered in a way that makes the process of divorce easier and more equitable for all parties involved.
