What's the deal with the boot?

As the movie opens, we see the jail cell where an Aborigine has hanged himself. On the floor is one cowboy boot.

Later on, as the local lawman Ray (Bryan Brown), is pursuing the dead man's son in the desert, he comes upon footprints--the right foot is wearing a boot, the left foot is bare.

Did vengeful old Poppy use the boot to make a false trail for Ray to follow? Or are we supposed to believe that it's the hanged man's spirit that's trying to lure the lawman into an ambush?