South End Life: South Seattle's Mien Community Celebrates Summer With a Market

At Mien Villa Market, Mien aunties sit and listen to smooth popular beats under a large tent to shelter from the heat. In front of them are heaps of produce like green onions, pumpkins, coriander, and Asian corn. Nearby, Southeast Asian American vendors sell pork spring rolls and meat sticks, homemade jam, honey and chili paste, cheesecake, cookies, and halal Mien-influenced Mexican tacos.

The Iu Mien American Association (IMAA) community center, located on South Bozeman Street just west of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, is a space that hosts intergenerational community programs for the Mien and larger community. This summer, the community hosted its second annual season of Mien Villa Market's offering of produce grown within Southeast Seattle by the Mien community, along with music and cultural programs for families.

IMAA was established in 1984 by a community of Mien members who sought a space to gather for meals and to celebrate their culture and rituals. Of more than 1,000 ethnically Mien people in Washington state, this community lives predominantly in Southeast Seattle and South King County. The IMAA community center was built in 2004 and has housed eldercare and Lao Highland Association's after-school enrichment programs in the past, according to the IMAA website. This fall, the community will dive into renovating a building on the site to prepare for a soup kitchen, market, and more programs next year.

Here are some South End neighbors at the Mien Villa Market in late August.

Muang Saechao (right) from Rainier Valley stands with her son Vincent Phan near her produce, including greens, herbs, green onions, and steamed Asian corn.

"I wish more people could learn to grow vegetables so they can provide for their family," said Saechao, who has farmed since living in the mountains of Laos. "Growing vegetables is survival."

Philicia Saephan is the founder of La Chinita's Cocina, serving Mexican and Mien comfort food. Saephan said she's known for her conchas (Mexican sweet breads). Her menu for the day was tacos with chicken or beef tongue and aguas frescas like horchata and dragonfruit/pineapple.

Saephan said she's spent 17 years in the food industry, and she enjoys the culture of a kitchen where everyone is valued. Last year, Saephan converted to Islam, and she serves halal dishes.

Koy Saeturn said that in 1990, she was involved in working on a section of the Thistle P-Patch at South Cloverdale Street, transforming it from a rocky and weedy space to one that's productive and thriving.

According to the city website, more than 125 families farm on the 1-acre site. Saeturn is a Rainier Beach resident and takes care of her children, grandchildren, and gardens.

Meuy Nai Saetern is a resident of Beacon Hill and the founder of Koo Soot Ka Asian Fusion, bringing together Mien, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong, Thai, Korean, and Filipinx flavors. One of her signature dishes is ka-liang fen, a handmade noodle-type dish served with a toasted fermented bean and garlic sauce.

Nai Saeteurn loves to garden in her backyard in Skyway. She said she wants to travel back to Laos. She arrived in 1984 and hasn't traveled home since then.

Saeteurn said she'd like people to know that "We have our own story." She said she continues to follow Taoist philosophy and rituals.

Lio Saephanh, who is a co-president of IMAA, arrived in the U.S. with her family as refugees when she was 10 years old and has been a South Ender since.

"We started this market so we could support our elders to sell their vegetables," she said. "There were elders who used to run the soup kitchen program, and it ran out of funding. Now we want to bring people back together and teach our younger generation our culture."

Nancy Saeteurn of Skyway is a co-president of IMAA alongside Lio Saephanh and Fahm Saechao-Ros.

"We partnered with United Mien Youth of Washington, who perform Mien dance and music. We like having them at Mien Villa Market. The little ones are cute, and their energy has brought people to the events," said Saeteurn.

Vince Vu of Anh Ói Bakeshop makes chewy Vietnamese American cookies. "This is an homage to my dual identities, and it's the way I express who I am in this world, both Vietnamese and American — both at the same time — always," said Vu.

He said an example of this expression is his Vietnamese coffee white chocolate cookies, with coffee from Hello Em Coffee and Roasterie (sourced from Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam) and stone-ground wheat from Cairn Spring Mills in Skagit Valley. Other cookie varieties include fried banana, coconut mung bean, and black sesame/red bean.

These trinkets sold at Mien Villa Market are made by women in Laos. Lio Saephanh said the name for the embroidered triangular shapes (right) is "ging go," meaning "strawberry" in Mien. The trinkets to the left are mini-gourds surrounded by colorful threadwork. These are used as charms or to decorate the home around Mien New Year.

Nai Saeteurn (left), Tony SaeChao, and Jaye Saeteurn sold pork spring rolls, homemade blackberry jam, chili paste (jeow bong), and raw Skyway honey.

Jaye, from Skyway, described the market as a way to bond with the community. "It's a family feel — getting to know your neighbors, express your skills, and show your community what you can do."

Nai, from California, who's visiting her sister, Jaye, described the process for making the chili. She also shared her story of arriving in the U.S. in the 1980s after months of treacherous travel to a Thai refugee camp and spending years at the camp under difficult conditions before arriving in California. "People don't know this. They see us today. They think everything is okay, but it isn't." Nai said she's writing a book about her experiences.

Nai Saeturn grows lots of vegetables in her backyard on Beacon Hill and likes to be at the market to be with her friends. "It makes me happy when I can see the vegetables growing through my care and watering them. My water bill is too high, but it's worth it since the vegetables are beautiful," said Saeturn.

South End Life Bulletin Board

Working Matters

State Attorney General Nick Brown will attend a Workers' Town Hall on Sept. 2 at Clover Park Technical College. You can RSVP online.

Monthly Free Passes to Local Museums

Seattle Public Library (SPL) cardholders can access two free passes a month to participating local museums like the Seattle Aquarium, Seattle Art Museum, Northwest African American Museum, and Wing Luke Museum. Find out how on SPL's website.

Have a Broken Personal or Household Item You Want Fixed?

You can take small broken items to a King County Repair event, where skilled volunteer "fixers" will attempt to repair or mend them. The next repair day is Sept. 6 at the Renton Library. For more information about what you can take and how the day works, you can go to King County's Repair events webpage.

Yuko Kodama is the News editor for the South Seattle Emerald. She is passionate about the critical role community media plays in our information landscape and loves stories that connect us to each other and our humanity. Her weekly "South End Life" column spotlights the stories of neighbors and community members that weave through the South End.