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Ngerduais |  Feasts |  Fooling the Gods |  Pranks |  Oikull Ladies  |  Language |  Sources & Links
   

Footprints
Chapter Contents:


 

“Story-telling was an art before," Johnson states, "but it has been displaced by television and radio. When I was a kid, it was a folk entertainment. In the home, in the bai, or for example when we work, during the lunch break, somebody would be telling a story, and then it would end, ‘to be continued….’ It was a real art form. In the evening they’d have the lamp burning and the kids would come around and there were famous storytellers.

" In Palau we have gods all over, and they sometimes appear in human forms and sometimes not. They used to appear in human form way back. There were many. Practically every village in Palau has a god by name, and we have rules and protocols about them.

"We have gods like Medechiibelau from this village. We have another god called Obaklsechal from near the K-B Bridge. In Peleliu we have a god they call Chuodel, 'the ancient.' And we have Uchererak, another god, in Koror. And Tungelbai in Aimeliik. And Palauans still retain the concept of gods in a pluralistic sense. Maybe it is mythological or what, but it exists in our culture. The name for legends is cheldechedúch el chelíd. Cheldechedúch is ‘story,’ chelíd is ‘god.’ ‘The stories from the gods.’ "

We remind our readers that these stories come from Palau's oral tradition. Hence the versions recorded in here are but one telling, and there will certainly be other versions.

 


 

Ngerduais

Ngerduais
Ngerduais island sits across the bay from Airai Village, and is part of Airai State. This island was claimed by Medechiibelau, and its story is linked to the fourth-ranking chief of Airai Village.

Feasts

Feasts
There are three hills in Airai that are said to be remnants of different feasts. Two of them are baskets of taro dropped by the gods for Medechiibelau. The third is the head of a turtle, whose tale is also the story of Echo.

Fooling the Gods

Fooling the Gods
On a ridge on one of Airai's Rock Islands is a tree that bears witness to the story of a canoe race in which Medechiibelau outwitted other gods. The story is also told of how he fooled other gods into giving him their lunches.

Pranks

Pranks
Medechiibelau played many tricks on his friends and on his mother, some of which relate to practices in Airai Village today. Here a series of short stories are told.

Oikull Ladies

Oikull Ladies
Two stories about the notorious women of Oikull village, near Ngerduais, and their astounding powers of negotiation and persuasion.

 

Language
Terms relating to stories and storytelling, morality, supernatural beings, and aspects of culture.

 

Sources & Links
Links to related web sites
Bibliography and Sources

 


Ngerduais |  Feasts |  Fooling the Gods |  Pranks |  Oikull Ladies  |  Language |  Sources & Links
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