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Kungkarrangkalpa (Seven Sisters) – Kuru Ala

Kuru Ala is a important women’s sites associated with the Kungkarrangkalpa (Seven Sisters) Tjukurrpa (Dreaming / story) across the Western and Central Deserts. Located south, west of Papulankutja (Blackstone), the site holds deep cultural, spiritual, and ceremonial significance for women in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.

In the sky, Wati Nyiru is associated with Orion’s Belt, while the sisters become the star cluster known widely as the Pleiades. Many desert families still track these stars seasonally, tying sky and Country together in the story.

This place marks a key moment in the Seven Sisters story, where the sisters rested, gathered strength, and cared for one another while escaping the persistent pursuit of Wati Nyiru. The surrounding caves, rock formations, and ground features are recognised as physical evidence of the ancestral events that took place here during the Tjukurrpa.

Across many desert communities, the Seven Sisters Tjukurrpa follows the travels of the sisters as they move through Country, constantly evading Nyiru, who uses magic to disguise himself in many forms — bush foods, trees, and even animals — in an attempt to catch them. At Kuru Ala, the sisters stop to protect and heal the eldest sister before continuing their journey eastward.

Today, Kuru Ala remains an active cultural site, cared for and visited by women with ties to this Country. The story is still taught, sung, and remembered. The paintings created by artists of Papulankutja and Mantamaru reflect both the ancestral narrative and the living landscape, mapping the caves, water sources, and pathways the sisters travelled.