Emerged as a distinctive figure in the Papunya Tula painting movement in about 1980. Yumpululu was born in Pintupi country, as a child travelling with his family between Jupiter Well and Kiwirrkurra living in the traditional way.
Born c.1930 in Pintupi country across the WA border, his family travelled across the country between Jupiter Well and Kiwirrkurra living in the traditional way. Yumpululu was in Papunya in the early years of the painting movement and tried his hand at a few boards. In 1980, a year before the Pintupi move back to Kintore, he resumed painting with renewed energy and one of his paintings from this period was purchased by the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. His son Noel Thomson Tjapaltjarri also painted for Papunya Tula Artists.