> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Jane Chu > Reference:: https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/palina-louangketh-laos > Date:: 2023 > Tags:: #warp #Laos > WeftLinks:: [[Cultural value of craft]][[Migrant and refugee value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft connects members of a cultural group in the diaspora]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Palina Louangketh has created the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora which features the story of their traditional *sinh noy* textile. ### Highlights Although her family wore the same clothes throughout their escape from Laos, Palina’s mother packed a special item for her as a keepsake: a __sinh noy__ (little sarong). Palina Louangketh’s hand woven __sinh noy__ Illustration by Jane Chu “She hired a Lao artisan in Pakse to weave on a loom a unique __sinh__ made from Lao cotton, with silk designs of chickens in bright colors that would be enjoyed by little girls,” Palina explains. “For Lao women and girls, the [Lao sinh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinh_\(clothing\)) is a piece of heritage clothing symbolizing who we are. No one sinh is the same, and my sinh noy was specially made for me. Mom knew that when we fled, our cultural heritage might become a thing of the past. She wanted to preserve our cultural identity so that my brother and I would know where we came from.” The entrepreneurial qualities Palina mustered to launch the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora were shaped by her family’s escape—their lived experience—out of Laos and their journey as new Americans: the ability to create what is needed and the tenacity to carry it through; the ability to identify hidden problems in advance, take risks, and think on your feet, all at the same time; to remember the vision and its meaningful purpose.