(elizabeth kyota) it is the most important day of a palauan woman's life. - did you get a lot of people coming from outside palau? - my oldest son lives in seattle, and my first grandchild is a boy. they came over. my younger sister lives in hawaii, and she came. my cousin lives in iowa, and she came all the way from iowa. and she's the singer, also; i was looking for her to do some numbers. - get on stage and do a number. but they came all the way it's that important. - yeah, they came all the way just to attend this special occasion. - in your opinion, what does it mean to live in a matrilineal society? - other cultures are so different from us. we, the ladies, we can decide, and we can amend rules. - because the chiefs are the men, now, but the ladies decide who the chiefs are - is that right? - yes. - so, basically, you get to decide a lot. - oh yes. if there's happenings in the community, the women get together, and the first lady of palau can decide what to do with the person who did something, and then the men will just follow. - the men will just follow? - yeah. that's how stron