Identity is important for Mason Lospeej Her.
“I would say being connected to your identity gives you purpose, value and a reason why,” Her says.
The son of Hmong immigrants, Her grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in clinical rehab counseling. One of the ways he’s learned to explore his identity is by playing a traditional Hmong instrument called the qeej.
“The instrument is typically played at weddings, funerals and Hmong New Year for entertainment purposes,” Her says.
The qeej (pronounced “gheng”) is a woodwind instrument usually made of bamboo, wood, tree bark and alloy reeds. The body has six pipes and isn’t played using western musical notation. Instead, it mimics the Hmong language.
“As a displaced group of people, we didn’t have a written language. We weren’t able to communicate or write down our history. It was a lot of oral history, so one of the ways that we’ve been able to preserve that is through qeej songs,” Her says.
These include stories of Hmong refugees during and after the Vietnam War.
“I’ve been able to preserve those stories and also pass them down,” Her says. He was introduced to the qeej at eight years old by his mother, but it’s also helped him grow closer with his father.
“There are a lot of aspects to the instrument so I am still learning myself, but we have created a relationship to now create stories together and share our stories as a father and son as well as a student and a teacher,” Her says.
Since the qeej mimics language, it allows Her a creative outlet to go beyond Hmong history and tell his own stories as well.
“When I felt that I was alone away from family, I could play the instrument and feel that I belonged,” Her says. “I’ve definitely created a different relationship with the instrument rather than just using it for cultural purposes.”
Her plays the qeej at funerals and weddings, but he also travels the Midwest performing in educational settings to teach others about the instrument and pass it down to future generations.
“The qeej is important because it is something unique to the Hmong people,” Her says. “It speaks importance to how music and this instrument can share stories as well as help generations heal together and communicate together.”
