Ursula Napangardi Hudson

Pikilyi is a large and important waterhole and natural spring near Mount Doreen station. Pikilyi Jukurrpa (Vaughan
Springs Dreaming) tells of the home of two rainbow serpents, ancestral heroes who lived together as man and
wife. The woman ‘rainbow serpent’ was of the Napanangka skin group, the man was a Japangardi. This was a taboo
relationship contrary to Warlpiri religious law. Women of the Napanangka and Napangardi subsection sat by the two
serpents, picking lice off them. For this service, the two serpents allowed the women to take water from the springs
at Pikilyi. This was because the serpents were the ‘kirda’, or ceremonial owners, for that country. The spirits of these
two rainbow serpents are still at Pikilyi today.