Ngardmau State Mythology

Ikeam el Diong

Once upon a time there was an old lady who lives by herself and didn’t have any children. One day, the drought season began so the villagers have to walk a little far away and get water. This situation left the old lady with no choice but had to ask the people who passed by her house to get some water for her but they refused and just ignore her every time. While she was sitting combing her hair, she noticed a bird on the tree branch that appears to be wet. So she followed the bird to the back of her house and she found a spring. Then she began cleaning the area to make it easier for her to access the spring.

Chedub ra Ielech

When the people of Oliuch came to Ngirmidong and took the village, they had a distribution of titles. A god named Chedub ra Ielech distributed and arranged the titles. This god was on a stone platform at a mangrove channel in Urdmau that was called Ngerurang. Today, the stone platform with the head of Chedub ra Ielech with his two faces made of stone is still at the channel of Ngerurang. His faces face in opposite directions. On the four corners of this platform there are seats especially made for the four high ranking chiefs of Urdmau.

Ngerdekus “The Village that Never Dies”

In the olden days Ngerdekus had a reputation for its great magical powers throughout Palau. Beachedersai was the chief of this village. Its name Beluu ra Diakelmad literally means “The Village that Never Dies.” The name is derived from the belief that the old men of this village cannot die because the village owned the magic of everlasting life. When men grew old and immobile, they were placed in the mangroves area among the trees. They would stand among the trees and look like trees with vines growing all over them. But if a person would accidentally hit one of them with a pole, they would cry out because they were human.