Tibetan Americans are Americans of Tibetan ancestry. As of 2020, more than 26,700 Americans are estimated to have Tibetan ancestry.[1] The majority of Tibetan Americans reside in Queens, New York.[4]
History
Ethnic Tibetans began to immigrate to the United States in the late 1950s.[5] Section 134 of the Immigration Act of 1990 gave a boost to the Tibetan immigration to the US, by providing 1,000 immigrant visas to Tibetans living in India and Nepal.[6][5]Chain migration followed, and by 1998 the Tibetan American population had grown to around 5,500, according to a census conducted by Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). The 2000 US census counted 5,147 US residents who reported Tibetan ancestry.[6]
1989: The Tibetan United States Resettlement Project (TUSRP) is established to support the resettlement of 1,000 Tibetans. Edward Bednar is appointed director.
1991: As part of Fulbright scholarships administered by Tibet Fund, Berea College in Berea, Kentucky enrolls the first batch of two students with two succeeding each following year to study in 4 year undergraduate programs. The program still continues with over 20 graduates, who have mostly resettled in America.
1992: The first group of the 1,000 Tibetans arrives in the US under the TUSRP and settles in six cluster sites throughout the US.
1993: In little more than a year since the first group of Tibetans arrived in 1992, 21 cluster sites open in 18 different states across the United States.
1993–2002: Through family reunification, more Tibetans arrive to join the original 1,000. By 2002 there are approximately 8,650 Tibetans and 30 Tibetan community associations in the United States.
Demography
An estimate of c. 7,000 was made in 2001,[5] and in 2008 the CTA's Office of Tibet in New York informally estimated the Tibetan population in the US at around 9,000.[6] In 2020, The Central Tibetan Administration estimated the number of Tibetans living in the United States to be over 26,700.[1] The migration of the Tibetans to the United States took on the pattern of 22 "cluster groups", located primarily in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and the Intermountain West. Other communities include Austin, Texas and Charlottesville, Virginia. Tibetan Americans who are born in Tibet or elsewhere in Tibet are officially recognized as Chinese nationals not by choice due to China's occupation of Tibet.[9]
The town of Northfield, Vermont has been home for many years to the seat of the current Trijang Rinpoche, who has been estranged from the Dalai Lama due to the Dorje Shugden controversy, which has become a cultural heritage center for thousands of followers.
Every year, Seattle holds an annual Tibet Festival in August.
Colorado
Although quite small in number overall, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of Tibetans in North America, focused on Boulder, Colorado Springs, Douglas County and Crestone. The state has Naropa University whose values statement states, "We are Buddhist-inspired, ecumenical, and nonsectarian welcoming faculty, staff, and students of all faiths as well as those who don’t ascribe to any religion."[12] There is a Buddhist commune[citation needed] west of Castle Rock and several cities have Tibetan outreach organizations. Colorado Springs alone has three Tibetan stores and a restaurant.
From 1958 to 1960, Anthony Poshepny trained various special missions teams, including Tibetan Khambas and HuiMuslims, for operations in China against the Communist government. Poshepny sometimes claimed[citation needed] that he personally escorted the 14th Dalai Lama out of Tibet, but sources in the Tibetan exile deny this.
The site was chosen because of the similarities of the Rocky Mountains in the area with the Himalayan Plateau. The CIA parachuted four groups[13] of Camp Hale trainees inside Tibet between 1959 and 1960 to contact the remaining resistance groups, but the missions resulted in the death or capture of many team members.
Notable people
Lodi Gyari, diplomat, former special envoy of the Dalai Lama[14]
^Gayley, Holly; Brallier, Joshua (2024). "Tibetan Buddhism in America". In Gleig, Ann; Mitchell, Scott (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism. Oxford handbooks series. Oxford University Press. p. 240. ISBN978-0-19-753903-3. Retrieved 2024-04-15. Tenzing Rigdol, a Tibetan artist whose family immigrated from Nepal to the United States in 2002