The Palauan Islands form the westernmost group of the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, southeast of the Philippines. Palau includes over 200 geologically diverse islands with the largest, Babeldaob, being a volcanic island and others being limestone and reef islands. The climate is tropical with constant high humidity. Some combination of gardening and fishing is the basis of economic life. The men fish by spear gun, line, hand net and trap in the coastal lagoons. The women cultivate the taro crop, (similar to elephant's ear) which is grown for its edible starchy tuberous rootstocks. They also perform domestic activities including child care, food preparation, and laundry.

Artisans from the Palauan islands worked in wood, stone, tortoise shell, and clay. Skilled carpenters constructed magnificent meeting houses called bais. On the structural beams and gables they carved and painted scenes depicting favorite legends. In 1929, a Japanese man named Hisakatsu Hidikata opened a school on Palau that taught carving in the old tradition. Two of its original students, Osiik and Riumd, went on to become master carvers. The only way that these stories are passed on is through master carvers and their apprentices.

The Palauans were the master sailors of the Pacific. Their rich storytelling tradition therefore embraced many cultures, but still remained wholly Palauan in style and content. Micronesian religious practice revolved around a personalized relationship with ancestor and nature spirits. These beliefs, along with their keen awareness of the whims of the sea, were subjects that were prominent in their art.

The Kagle Collection, which dates from this early 1929 period to the mid-1970's, consists of storyboards from the six master carvers and their major apprentices. Kagle's research and collection of the Palauan boards was gained when he was head of the Art Department at the University of Guam. His research was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. From 1969–1976, Kagle bought over 4,000 storyboards from the master carvers' studios in Palau and Guam. When he returned to the United States, he kept only the "best of the best."