Kuniya & Liru (Python Woman & Poisonous Snake Man)

‘Minyma Kuniya munu Wati Lirunnga paluru pula pikaringu. Nyangatja Tjukurpa Ulurula ngaranyi.’

‘Python Woman and Deadly Snake Man fought a battle. This is Creation Law at Uluru.’

Kuniya is the Woma Python snake, one of the important Creation Ancestors for Uluru. In the Tjukurpa, the beginning of time, the Kuniya people lived at the Rock, and like all Ancestral Beings, they shaped its features through their activities. No visitor leaves Uluru without witnessing the scars on its surface, etched from the battle between Kuniya and the Liru, the Poisonous Snake People.

Minyma Kuniya, a Senior Python Woman, traveled from the Southeast to bring her eggs back to Uluru, carefully placing them in a burrow at the eastern end of the Rock. While she was away, her nephew was attacked by the Liru Men. Upon her return, she confronted one of the Liru warriors near the Mutitjulu Waterhole. Summoning her powers, she struck him dead with her digging stick, leaving two giant cracks on the cliff face as evidence of her actions.

Anangu feel strongly about continuing to teach and learn Tjukurpa, or Creation Law. Their art plays a vital role in this process, sustaining them economically, physically, and culturally while keeping stories and traditions alive.

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