Dreaming paths of the Rainbow Serpent, the Lightning Man, the Cockatoo Lady, and Warramurrunundji the Earth Mother all pass through the region and are important Ancestral Beings for local Aboriginal people.

For thousands of years Aborigines recorded important ceremonies, deities and totemic plants and animals by painting their images in the rock shelters, cliffs and overhangs of the region. Artistic styles have evolved over time, from naturalistic forms to the intellectual X-ray style, where the internal anatomy of the subject is portrayed.

Aboriginal Paintings at Ubirr and Nourlangie provides a guide to the art sites, many open to the public, explaining their significance for Aboriginal people, both past and present.