Barbara Napangarti Reid was born around 1964 (between 1962 and 1964) in Mungurry, near Tjukurla, north-west of Docker River in Western Australia, in a very isolated area. She belongs to the Ngaanyatjarra linguistic group of the western desert, one of the eight linguistic groups that act as guardians of this vast region.

While Barbara's family is mainly Ngaanyatjarra, she has a strong relationship with the Pintupi group on the side of her father's mother. As a child, Barbara and her close family left Mungurry on foot for a long journey. Somewhere south-east of Docker River, his father reported an army truck which, operating under the policies of regroupment and sedentarization of the last nomads. They are then brought to Papunya wher...