Kuniya and Liru at Uluṟu

Whose story this is

This is Aṉangu Tjukurpa, the law and ancestral knowledge of the Aṉangu, the traditional owners of Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park in the Northern Territory. Aṉangu share this story publicly with visitors: it is told on signs along the Kuniya walk to Muṯitjulu Waterhole and on the park's website, both prepared with Aṉangu, and by Aṉangu guides. Uluṟu holds many Tjukurpa stories, and many of them are not public; this summary keeps to the public telling of Kuniya and Liru.

Kuniya comes to Uluṟu

Kuniya, the woma python, came to Uluṟu from far away, travelling across the land. At Uluṟu she laid her eggs and made her camp. Her nephew, a young Kuniya man, also came to the area.

The Liru war party

A war party of Liru, venomous snake men, came to Uluṟu. They attacked Kuniya's nephew with their spears and killed him. The spear marks are said to remain on the rock of Uluṟu, and Aṉangu point to them when they tell the story.

Kuniya's grief and anger

When Kuniya learned that her nephew had been killed, she was overcome with grief and anger. She came to Muṯitjulu to confront the Liru. As the public telling describes it, she performed a powerful dance and took up her wana, her digging stick. She struck one of the Liru warriors on the head, and he died. Features of the rock face at Muṯitjulu record this encounter: the marks of the blow, and the forms of Kuniya and the Liru warrior.

Muṯitjulu Waterhole

Muṯitjulu is one of the few permanent waterholes at Uluṟu and an important place for Aṉangu. The public story teaches visitors about the Tjukurpa that gives the place its meaning, and about the proper response to wrongdoing within Aṉangu law. Aṉangu guides explain that the story also carries lessons about responsibility to kin and about the consequences of violence.

Visiting on Aṉangu terms

Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is jointly managed by Aṉangu and Parks Australia, following the return of the land to its traditional owners in 1985. Aṉangu ask visitors to respect culturally sensitive sites, including places where photography is not allowed. At the request of the traditional owners, climbing Uluṟu was permanently closed in October 2019.

Not a "Rainbow Serpent"

Kuniya is sometimes loosely called a "Rainbow Serpent" in popular writing. She is a woma python woman in a specific Aṉangu story, and her story should be understood as Aṉangu tell it, not folded into a general category.