As Ifugao has a matrilineal culture, it is usually the wife who leads in these stories, and her brother occupies a higher position than her husband. Thus, the hudhud has value as an anthropological document. The language of stories, rich in figurative expressions and repetitions, uses metonymies, metaphors and onomatopoeias, which makes transcription very difficult. There are very few written documents of this tradition. The stories evoke ancient heroes, religious beliefs, traditional practices, and reflect the importance of rice cultivation. The narrators, especially the older women, occupy important positions in the community, as priestesses and as holders of history. The hudhud epics are alternately sung by the first reciter and the choir. 