THE WORD: RELIGION AND LITERACY IN THE LIFE OF A HMONG AMERICAN

This narrative study involving an adult Hmong refugee, his family, and his community provides an example of the often intimate connection between religion, language, and culture. The extension of the "Word of God" often has been facilitated by the extension of literacy. Before the rise of national school systems, the church was a primary site for literacy education, especially where Protestantism held sway. In the case of the Hmong, Protestant missionaries in the last century have gained many converts through the popularity of their Hmong language bibles (Tapp 1989a). Salvation Church provides one of the few opportunities for Hmong youth in Windigo, Michigan to practice literacy in what for many is their first language. This research documents ways in which conversion to Christianity brought changes to Hmong clan and family relationships, as traditionalists became divided from practitioners of the "new religion."     

THE FELLOWSHIPS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RELIGION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This article explores the interaction between the work and lives of five religious qualitative researchers whose research studies investigate both culture and religion. The ways their personal backgrounds, experiences, and values affect their choice of research topics and their relationships with research participants and with data, are revealed through the stories they tell about their work. Implications are drawn both for the conduct of qualitative, cultural study and for religious education.     

我国古代少数民族原始宗教与文化

我国古代内蒙古地区、东北和西北地区的各少数民族的原始信仰，基本上属于萨满教。信仰山、水、火、日月星辰等自然物，也崇拜灵魂、祖先和困腾。我国古代南方众多的少数民族，他们各有自己的原始信仰和祭祀活动、宗教仪式。我国少数民族的原始宗教和反映原始宗教的宗教节日、习俗、巫术、占卜以及禁忌等原始文化，由于国内各民族间的相互影响、交流、吸收和融合，形成了中华民族丰富多彩、各具特色的原始宗教和文化。