The painting depicts a type of impish forest spirit named Nokuyagaba, a term literally means ‘sago-taking ghost'. These small winged spirits are believed to live in hollows in trees high up in the forest canopy and in deep fissures in large boulders in unihabitated parts of the forests. The anthropomorphic ‘face’ represents the spirit shown in the upper and lower parts of the bark, a pair of large black eyes, a bulbous black nose and open mouth displaying teeth.