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They preserve strict maternal descent, and like the Khasis, the deities of all the clans are goddesses. The life and social habits of the people have been described by Kubary, a careful and sympathetic observer, for long resident in the island. The tribes are divided into exogamous clans, and intermarriage between any relations on the mother’s side is unlawful.
* The "wise man from Germany," I ascertained a year or two afterwards, was the well-known J. S. Kubary, a gentleman who, although engaged in trading pursuits, yet enriched science by his writings on his discoveries in Micronesia.
Take alone the titles that these Pelew islanders give to their women, as Adhalál a pelú, “mothers of the land,” and Adhalál a blay, “mothers of the clan.” The testimony of those who know their customs is that the women enjoy complete equality with the men in every respect. Mr. Kubary affirms the predominance of female influence in all the social life of the clan.
These clans are grouped together in villages and the life is of a communal character. Each village consists of about a score of clans, and forms with its lands a petty independent state. Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer. Die Religion, de Pelauer. Mr. Frazer, Golden Bough, Part IV, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, pp. 387 et seq., summarises the account of Kubary. See also Waitz-Gerland, Vol.
There is another fact of interest: some women are reputed to be the wives of the gods, they are called Amalalieys and have a great honour paid to them, while their children pass for the offspring of the gods. The reverence paid to the ancestral goddesses is explained by Mr. Kubary as arising from the importance of women in the clans.
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