This large and imposing figure once sealed the opening of a shell-encrusted bamboo flute created and used along the Yuat River in today’s Papua New Guinea. These flutes and their stoppers used to play a starring role in male initiation ceremonies associated with crocodile spirits. However, by the end of the 1930s, Christian missionary activity had brought these ceremonies—and their associated artistic commissions—to a halt. Today, Biwat communities frequently refuse to speak to outsiders about historic artworks like these. As such, little is known about the symbolism, meaning, or creation of these works.