Nancy Naninurra's country lies to the south and east of Balgo, between Nyirrpi, Kintore and Lapi Lapi.
Naninurra grew up on these lands and in her early 20s a kartiya (non-Aboriginal) man brought her family to Mount Doreen Station near Yuendumu where they settled for a while. Naninurra worked sorting rocks at the mine that has now closed.
Naninurra's father and younger sister went travelling from there and got involved in an intertribal conflict. Three people died shortly after, including her father and it was said that he was 'sung'.
Naninurra married a Warlpiri man from the Tanami area and lived in Yuendumu. They moved tot Yaturluyaturlu (the Granites) where Nancy brought up their first two children while her husband worked in the mine. The family gradually moved north-west from the Tanami to Gordon Downs where they had another son.
Naninurra outlived her husband and is settled at Balgo with other Warlpiri people. Together with her sisters, Naninurra is an important law woman with the responsibility of maintaining the song cycles of her country.
An influential person, she was involved in the production of traditional artefacts in the 1970s and early 1980s and became a key figure in the early Balgo women's painting movement. Her work has been widely exhibited in Balgo exhibitions including Balgo 4-04, 2004.
