A lot goes into planning a funeral when a loved one passes away. For writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, she helped fold thousands of money boats to honor her sister, Jer Lor. She looks back on that time and how she continues the tradition to show her everlasting love.
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Around my sister’s birthday, my niece and I gathered to fold money boats, also called money bars. These are significant in Hmoob Animism because they represent bars of silver and gold. The money boats are used in many ways to connect with the spirit world, including providing wealth for the deceased on their spiritual journey.
My niece and I took large sheets of joss paper with shiny gold and silver foil, and we cut them into smaller rectangles before folding. Our aim was 34 money boats, since that was how old my sister would have been.
“How many do you think we made for your mom’s funeral?” I asked my niece as we worked at the kitchen table.
“A lot,” she responded. “Maybe hundreds?”
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Arrangements made of money boats on display at Jer Lor’s funeral in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (Photo by Yia Lor)
Thinking back on that day, it’s likely that my family folded thousands of boats in preparation for my sister’s funeral. We folded throughout the day and into the night. It seemed that every time I called someone or stopped by my parents’ home, they were busy folding. Once, my mother asked me to split a package of joss paper and take it home. I made a couple hundred money boats that night. It was common to find relatives and family friends also helping at my parents’ home. Our fingers would turn yellow from the gold foil, and we’d take turns scrubbing them in my parents’ kitchen sink.
Folding money boats was a time to remember my sister and plan for the funeral. Most of the time, we mourned the loss of my sister and wondered how we would move forward with just our memories of her. Every once in a while, though, someone offered a funny story that momentarily broke up the heaviness.
With the help of relatives, my niece and nephew arranged their boats to create large hearts for their mom. Because creating displays like this take hours and even days to make, my siblings and I opted to purchase some from vendors who specialized in arrangements for funerals. While setting up for the funeral, I sat back and admired all of the different arrangements. There were hearts and wreaths, even a house and a car all made from our money boats.
As beautiful as everything was, though, they would all get burned at the funeral for my sister to take with her on her next journey.
The funeral started early in the morning and went through the night. With many family members still around to keep watch, I returned home to rest my eyes for a few hours. Just after 3:00 a.m., my brother texted saying they were hauling the money boat arrangements to my parents’ home to burn. I drove out to the countryside to find a large bonfire already growing.
My family and extended relatives gathered to take turns throwing money boats into the fire while we called on my sister.
“Here you go, Jer,” I said, taking money boats off my arrangement and feeding them into the fire.
“Thov kom koj tau noj tau haus os.”
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After my niece and I finished folding all 34 money boats for my sister’s birthday and washed our hands clean, we went out to the backyard where we burned them. We let my sister know we were thinking of her and sending love her way. We asked her to remember us, too. I imagined these gold and silver boats floating down the Chippewa River, and somewhere along the way, they entered the spirit world where my sister was waiting.