Author Event: "Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine)" with Zongxee Lee and Natalie Hoidal

Author Event: "Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine)" with Zongxee Lee and Natalie Hoidal

Join us for the launch event of Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine): A Compendium of Hmong Medicinal Plants by Zongxee Lee, Natalie Hoidal, Alex Crum. Co-hosted by the Hmong Museum, the event will take place at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis.

Blending traditional knowledge and Western science, this collection of family stories, healing recipes, and profiles of plants common in Minnesota celebrates age-old wisdom and cutting-edge research.

During early years in Laos, May Lee trained as a niam tshuaj, a plant-based healer and keeper of herbal plants, a role customarily handed down from mother to eldest daughter. When she fled to Thailand and then the United States in 1980, May brought preserved cuttings, which she eventually cultivated in Minnesota. She passed along her knowledge to daughters Zongxee and Mhonpaj, who likewise became herbalists and farmers.

Tshuaj Ntsuab grew out of a five-year collaboration between the Lee family, University of Minnesota Extension, and Dr. Ya Yang's laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The team used DNA sequencing to identify each of the herbs and reviewed published works to better understand what scientists know about these plants. The result is a valuable reference that preserves traditional knowledge for members of the Hmong community and beyond.

Please register for the event on the Magers & Quinn Booksellers website.