Skin: Alyawarr

Language Group: Alyawarr

Region: Arlparra, Utopia

Dreaming: Thorny Devil Lizard

Barbara Kngwarrey Long is a senior custodian for her Ancestor the Mountain Devil Lizard or Thorny Devil Lizard of the Utopia region.

The dreaming tells of the old woman Mountain Devil Lizard - the ancestral being who takes the form of a small, spike-covered lizard- who travelled the vast regions of the Atnangker country defining the landscape and identifying the sacred sites.

The patterns in her paintings reflect the spots on the skin of the Mountain Devil Lizard (Arnkerrth)— the ancestral being who takes the form of a small, spike-covered lizard—as well as the seeds and ants it eats and the track marks it makes as it makes its journey across the desert. Her paintings demonstrate her connection between her past and the present and reminds us that the Mountain Devil Lizard is still roaming the country and defining the landscape.