In this painting, Jimmy Donegan has depicted part of the Wati Kutjarra, a prominent Dreaming story belonging to peoples of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts. The Wati Kutjarra were two ancestral brothers who journeyed across the desert teaching people about culture and law and creating many of the associated landforms.
The two brothers assumed the form of goannas and were powerful magicians who often punished wrong doers and enjoyed tricking people. They travelled from what is now known as Perth across the desert, through the Blackstone Ranges to Docker River. When they arrived, they interrupted local men’s business, even though the women had warned them not to. Angered by their arrogance, the Docker River men killed the two brothers.