Referred to as “Old Walter” in Geoffrey Bardon’s writings on the beginnings of painting at Papunya, Walter Tjampitjinpa was an elder statesman of the Pintupi community in Papunya and senior custodian of the Water Dreaming that runs through Kalipinypa west of Papunya. He had an extensive knowledge of ceremonial sites which were part of the Dreaming journeys mapping out the locations of water sources across a vast area of the Western Desert. Most of his paintings depict the classic Water Dreaming icon for Kalipinypa.