The image was made by a shaman for a healing complex. Nanai shamans considered Maydya mama the mistress of fertility and the tree of life and represented her in the form of an old woman or moose cow. The shaman's healing complex included two more figures: her husband in the form of the bear Ayami and the fiery maiden Diaolandi, her assistant. The idol belonged to the great shaman Fukui Uksumik.