The kutaakwa are the female spirit-beings that stand second only to the nggwalndu among the classes of Abelam supernaturals. Ethnographers describe them as malevolent beings closely comparable to the witches of European folklore, held to work sickness and misfortune upon the living. Set against the male, clan-bound and largely benevolent order of the nggwalndu revealed in the ceremonial house, the kutaakwa belong to the darker and more dangerous side of the Abelam spirit world.