Exhibit at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum honors Hmong medicine, culture

CHASKA, Minn. — It's a story that spans decades from Laos to Minnesota, but a new exhibit is helping everyone learn about Hmong medicine and culture.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is featuring a Hmong herbal garden in its "Seeds of Knowledge and Healing" exhibit. It tells the story of Zongxee Lee's herbal medicine journey.

Lee comes from a long line of Hmong herbalists and healers.

Her daughters have been working with University of Minnesota researchers to classify them and say they're vital to the Hmong community.

"I had someone that was like, 'Wow, I didn't know you guys had a postpartum diet, or you can use it if you are just sick. And that you're doing research and this actually works.' It's like this network where the grandma would tell the next grandma," organizer Mhonpaj Lee said.

Their goal is to get science to carry tradition.

Researchers are working with the sisters to genetically sequence each herb for use in hospitals.

The celebration on Sunday also featured self-guided garden tours.

The exhibit will be up throughout the growing seasons of 2024 and will be replanted in 2025, according to the university's website.

The garden features 12 of the most important Hmong chicken soup herbs in addition to other plants that Lee has chosen to represent Hmong culture.