Duppies & American Indians, Huh?

My next door neighbor is about 85 years old. She loves the piece above, called Duppy. I explained that it is based on my childhood imagining of what a duppy would look like.  “What’s a duppy?” My best explanation is that it is akin to what Americans would call the boogie man or a  very scary ghost. Her response to that? “We were afraid of Indians.”