the spirit world. The symbolic meaning behind specific motifs and patterns seen on funeral textiles have a variety of interpretations, however, conventions are generally held about the size, cut, and colors used for them by each Hmong clan or subgroup. Regardless of these diverse interpretations, the textiles are used very practically to care for the body of the deceased. For example, in the White Hmong funeral tradition, the large sailor collar known as a dab tsho laus is sometimes used to support the head of the deceased while transporting the body to the burial site. In the Blue and Green Hmong funeral tradition, the funerary pillow square, known as a noob ncoos, acts as a cushion for the head of the deceased. Gender and Paj Ntaub According to tradition, Hmong girls begin to learn the skills required to produce Paj Ntaub from their mother, grandmother, or older sister as early as three years old and go on to master hundreds of complex patterns. Skill in Paj Ntaub is highly valued in traditional Hmong culture and is used to signify desirable feminine traits like industriousness, creativity, and discipline and often plays a significant role in terms of courtship and marriage prospects. The creativity and skill of Paj Ntaub design was also traditionally linked with the embroiderer's own fertility. When Hmong women get married and join their husband's household, they learn and adopt the new Paj Ntaub techniques and traditions of their husband's clan from their mother-in-law and other female relatives. In doing so, the Paj Ntaub tradition of that clan is maintained. Although the labor intensive production and decoration of Hmong clothing and Paj Ntaub were the exclusive responsibility of women and older girls, this did not release them from other extensive responsibilities involving domestic chores, child care, and farm work. Because of this, sewing would often be done late into the night or during breaks between other responsibilities. Symbolism and Language Paj Ntaub is often highly symbolic and the colorful, geometric designs function in a multitude of ways including as abstract representation, religious talisman, group identification, and many argue as a codified visual language. Historically, the Hmong people were a primarily oral culture until the development of the Hmong RPA in the 1950s. According to popular legend however, the Hmong long ago had a powerful written language that was outlawed and destroyed by Chinese rulers and lost to time. As