Traditional chiefs of Palau

"Chiefs of Palau" redirects here. For chiefs or monarchs of Palau prior to independence, see Spanish East Indies, German New Guinea, and South Seas Mandate.

"Beouch", "Ngiraked", "Ngiraikelau", and "Reklai" redirect here. For the sprinter, see Beouch Ngirchongor. For the politician, see John Ngiraked. For the jurist, see Oldiais Ngiraikelau. For the surname, see Reklai (surname).

Palau has several traditional chiefs of its 16 states. A factor that resulted in the decline of chiefly authority in Palau was the introduction of elected governors, called upon in the Constitution of Palau which came into effect on 1 January 1981.^[1]

List of current chiefs

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Sailors salute reklai of Melekeok Raphael B. Ngirmang in 2013

Former Ibedul of Koror Yutaka Gibbons in 2013. His sister is bilung Gloria Salii and his brother is the current ibedul of Koror Alexander Merep.

The Etpison Museum named for former President and rekemesik of Ngatpang Ngiratkel Etpison. His brother Yukiwo is the rengulbai of Aimeliik and his son Shallum is the uchelsias of Ngesias in Peleliu.

Title	State	Incumbent	Predecessor	Notes
Council of Chiefs
Beouch	Ngardmau	Demei Obakrairur[2]	Sakaziro Demk[3]
Heimong	Hatohobei	Vacant[2]
Ibedul	Koror	Alexander Merep[4]	Yutaka Gibbons[5]	See ibedul succession dispute.
Maderngebuked	Ngaraard	Thomas Remengesau Jr.[6]	Thomas Remengesau Sr.[2]
Ngirakebou	Ngchesar	Andres Madraisau[7]	Roman Bedor[2]
Ngiraked	Airai	Yukiwo P. Dengokl[2]	Johnson Toribiong[8]
Ngirturong	Ngeremlengui	John Sugiyama[9]	Yamakazaki Rengiil[2]
Nurap	Sonsorol	Nicholas Aquino[2]
Obak	Peleliu	Vacant[10]	Isao Singeo[2]
Rdechor	Kayangel	Isimang Bandarii[2]
Rekemesik	Ngatpang	Surangel S. Whipps[2]	Ngiratkel Etpison[11]	Title disputed by Uchelsias Shallum Etpison, son of Ngiratkel Etpison.[12]
Reklai	Melekeok	Raphael B. Ngirmang[2]
Rengulbai	Aimeliik	Yukiwo Etpison[2]
Ucherbelau	Angaur	Lorenso Edward[2]
Uongerchetei	Ngerchelong	Mathias Erbai[13]	Victor Joseph[2]
Uongruious	Ngiwal	Vacant[14]	Paulus Wong[2]
Other chiefs
Bilung	Koror	Gloria Salii[5]		Female counterpart of ibedul and highest ranking female chief.[15][5]
Ngiraikelau	Koror	Franco Gibbons[16]		2nd highest ranking chief in Koror.[16]
Uchelsias	Peleliu	Shallum Etpison[12]	Yukiwo Shmull[12]	Specifically chief of Ngesias which is the central portion of Peleliu.[12]

Ibedul

"Idid" redirects here. For the group, see Idid (group).

Ibedul is a title given to the high chief of Koror, in Palau, who is also the head of the Idid clan.^[17][18] Koror is the most populated state with approximately 64% of Palauans living there as of 2020 and so historically bearers of the title were sometimes erroneously referred to as "Kings of Pelew" despite them not having authority over all of modern-day Palau.^[19][20]

List of known ibeduls

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Abba Thulle[21] fl. 1783
Ilengelekei[22] 1871 – 1911 (39–40)				1911
Louch[22] 1911 – 1917 (5–6)				1917
Tem[22] 1917 – 1943 (25–26)				1943
Mariur[22] 1943 – 1958 (14–15)				1958
Ngoriakl[22] 1958 – 1972 (13–14)				1972
Yutaka Gibbons[22] 1973 – 4 November 2021 (47–48)		17 January 1944		4 November 2021 Aged 77
Alexander Merep[4] February 22, 2022 – present (3 years, 238 days)				Living