The Iu Mien people of Oakland, California, have transplanted
their traditional leadership structure to the American setting. The current
structure
was designed by a group of elders shortly after the Iu Mien arrived in
the Bay Area as refugees. Their goal was to maintain unity in a new environment.
As depicted in the map, the community founded a nonprofit organization
known as the Lao Iu Mien Culture Association (LIMCA) with a thirteen-member
board. LIMCA represents the Iu Mien people to the outside community, and
functions as their center of gravity. LIMCA members are also focused on
building a community center to further unify their people.
LIMCA members were key in establishing an informal leadership
structure that mirrors the structure the Iu Mien people have lived within
for centuries. The challenge was to adapt this structure to life in Oakland,
where the Iu Mien do not have their own separate villages, but rather
live scattered among people of other ethnicities. LIMCA leaders decided
to divide the Iu Mien based on their home villages into eight districts
of fifty to eighty families each. Each district has chosen one to four
leaders. These twenty-one district leaders, together with four senior
leaders, form the Oakland Iu Mien Community Council. The four senior leaders,
including two members of LIMCA’s board, make up the central council. The
council functions as a communication channel for the Iu Mien, who have
no written language. The leaders are also responsible for settling disputes
and helping community members resolve other problems. Those that cannot
be settled by district leaders are brought to the central council.
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