Modeknge

Modekngei, or Ngara Modekngei (United Sect), is a monotheistic religious movement founded around 1915 by a shaman named Tamadad, a native of the island of Babeldaob, that eventually spread throughout Palau. It rose to politically significant between the First and Second World Wars and is currently professed by 5.7% of Palau's population. Modekngei is a hybrid of ancient Palauan customs and Christianity. Followers of the religion believe in the Christian God, recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but simultaneously make appeasements to the traditional Palauan deities. Adherents in Ibobang (a village in Ngatpang, Palau that faces Ngeremeduu Bay.) practice a lifestyle centered on ancient ideas of family, community, and purity. Citizens of Ibobang attend daily church services. One Modekngei custom requires members of the community to walk silently to church each morning. Speaking, especially speaking loudly before a church service is considered disrespectful. Women in Ibobang usually wear pants, but at church they are required to always wear a skirt or dress when entering or passing the building. Daily Modekngei church services are short, consisting mostly of individual and group prayers, but services celebrating both traditional and religious holidays are more elaborate, can last several days, and require weeks of communal preparation. One custom that most Palauans observe, regardless of religious affiliation, is the prohibition of alcohol or tobacco within the Ibobang city limits. Another customary activity that takes place in Ibobang is the blessing of the roads. This particular custom coincides with the lunar cycle. It is believed that during a full moon, the Modekngei goddess is better able to see the malpractices of her people so villagers exert themselves beforehand to ensure that everything is clean and in proper order. The village of Ibobang is the home of Belau Modekngei School, founded in 1974 by Modekngei elders as a boarding school for high school students to transmit the ancient traditions of the Modekngei religion to future generations. Japanese ethnologist Machiko Aoyagi attributes the widespread adoption of Modekngei to six factors: (1) Healing the sick. During the periods of German colonialism and Japanese occupation tere was an absence of specialists in traditional medicine. It was beleived that all diseases were caused by the spirits of ancestors, of gods, or by sorcery. Modekngei reinstituted the roles of diviners, white magicians, and shamans who could identify the cause of, and specify cures for diseases. (2) Prophecy, (3) Money-making. Money is the sole determinant of the social status of individual islanders, descent groups, and villages. After WWII, mtu'in (mutual financing associations) were organized which not only effectively raised funds, but also served to tighten bonds among followers of Modekngei. (4) Abolishment of food taboos and removal of old gods. In traditional religion, the gods of Belau had imposed stringent food taboos on fo11owers.To abolish these taboos, Modekngei leaders were compelled to banish the gods who had imposed them. (5) Incorporation of various local gods. (6). Introduction of Christian elements. Modekngei created an ideal environment for many islanders whose loyaties were divided between Christianity and traditional beliefs by acknowledging and incorporating both systems.