Description
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. This
Dreamings belongs to the women and men of the
Japanangka/Napanangka and Japangardi/Napangardi skin
groups.
