Along the Karawari (Korewori) River, a tributary of the Sepik River, figures known as yipwon are found in the back of men’s ceremonial houses. These supremely powerful carvings of ancestral spirits can be called up to assist with warfare, head- hunting, and big-game hunting of wild boar, cassowary birds, and other creatures of the forest. The yipwon spirits, once their images were anointed and activated with offerings, collected food and hunted the prey in advance of a hunting party. They deposited all the food in the vicinity of people’s homes. Upon returning from a hunting expedition, ritual offerings were made to the successful yipwon, and some figures were adorned with paint. Figures considered not helpful were left unattended, yet kept in the men’s house (Haberland and Seyfarth 1974, 365–370; Meyer 1995, 235).

Each yipwon has its own name, which may indicate a relationship to a specific ancestor. Yipwon are often kept for generations as the property of clans or families, while much smaller ones are individually owned as amulets. In Melanesian pidgin they were also called wanleks, referring to their single leg (Friede 2005, 125).

Yipwon figures are formed of echoing inward-curving hooks representing ribs surrounding the heart, a single straight projection in the center, and a bent leg extending from the abstracted body. The head is quite naturalistic and emphasized as the most spiritually important part of the body.