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Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, in the New Orleans Vietnamese Community
by Dr. Kathleen Carlin and Cam-Thanh Tran
with the advice of Father Vien The Nguyen and Brother Thieu Nguyen
Chuc mung nam moi! Happy New Year!
Importance of Tet to Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans
Preparation - Food and Activities
Celebrating the Days of Tet
Importance of Tet to Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans
Tet Nguyên Ðán is celebrated on the first day of the lunar calendar-it always falls between January 19th and February 20th on the western calendar-and officially lasts for the first three days of the New Year. However, preparation for the festival fills the weeks before the actual holiday, and the celebration itself lasts longer than three days. Therefore, Tet is a month-long celebration, a comprehensive holiday which Vietnamese enthusiastically embrace. Vietnamese, living in the United States and elsewhere, remain very emotionally tied to celebrating Tet. It is the central festival in Vietnam and, for even the most acculturated Vietnamese settled in other countries, it remains the major occasion on which to celebrate their Vietnamese heritage. Tet is a moveable holiday (like Easter), which presents some difficulty in celebrating the holiday while living in a country with a different holiday calendar. Be this as it may, Vietnamese communities make a concerted effort to celebrate Tet, and most family members undertake long trips to be with their relatives during this time.
The Vietnamese are one of the largest ethnic/immigrant groups in New Orleans, numbering more than 14,000 according to the 2000 census. They began settling here soon after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. In the thirty years that they have lived here, they have developed a strong, resilient ethnic community, which has added to the city's cultural diversity and color. Because the nuclei of these settlements were villagers from three Catholic fishing villages in South Vietnam, the New Orleans Vietnamese community is distinct from other Vietnamese neighborhoods in the United States. They have established three communities in New Orleans: the largest, and most organized, is located in the Versailles neighborhood of New Orleans East near Chef Menteur Highway and community life here centers around the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church and the Van Hanh Buddhist Center. The three predominantly Catholic Vietnamese communities-the order is usually Woodlawn, then Marrero, then Mary Queen of Vietnam-each put on a weekend-long fair for the three weekends close to Tet. The three Buddhist temples-Bo De Temple in Belle Chaise, Lien Hoa Temple in Gretna, and Van Hanh Temple in New Orleans East-also put on community events for Tet on a somewhat smaller scale.
The Vietnamese community in New Orleans East was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most houses and businesses in the Versailles area had some flooding and also suffered wind damage. Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church and its rectory did not flood, but suffered wind damage. Most of the population evacuated and many relocated to Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and to other towns in Louisiana. Almost two years later (spring 2007), many displaced people are still commuting from temporary residences on weekends to repair their homes and businesses and to attend their home churches. The resilience of the community has been remarkable. The church is full for its weekend masses, and most homes appear to be in good shape again; most businesses in the mini-malls have reopened. Father Vien The Nguyen, the pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam and head of the East Bank Vietnamese diocese, says that over 90 percent of the community had returned or were in the process of returning by the end of the year 2007. Another sign of the community's recovery are the three-day-long Tet fairs since Hurricane Katrina. In 2006 - only five months after the disaster - the fair broke records with 20,000 people attending.
Next - Preparation - Food and Activities
Dr. Kathleen Carlin is an educator and an independent anthropologist in New Orleans. She has been working with the Vietnamese community in New Orleans for many years, lately especially with the Intercultural Charter School and the Tulane School of Public Health. Cam-Thanh Tran is an educator who moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She works with Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation and has been very involved in founding the Intercultural Charter School in New Orleans East. She is active in community affairs and has a longtime interest in Vietnamese culture. This article was prepared as part of the New Populations Project.
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