Dia, Chue, and Nhia Thao Cha were born in Laos. In 1975, Dia fled with her family to Thailand, where they spent over four years in the Ban Vinai refugee camp before gaining entry to the United States. Her uncle and aunt, Chue and Nhia Thao Cha, made this story cloth in 1990 in the Chiang Kham refugee camp in Thailand. They have since returned to Laos. Dia works as a cultural anthropologist in Boulder, Colorado.