The giant serpent in Adnyamathanha Dreaming that carved the Flinders Ranges is Akurra.
In Yura Muda, the Adnyamathanha creation stories, powerful serpents called Akurra shaped the landscape through their movements. One tradition tells of Akurra becoming thirsty, drinking from Lake Frome, and then carving gorges and waterholes while returning to the ranges.
Akurra is also closely connected with Ikara, the Adnyamathanha name for Wilpena Pound. In a related account, two Akurra—one male and one female—formed the natural amphitheatre’s opposing walls. This is why references may use both “Akurra” as a general name and individual names for particular serpents.
Akurra is sometimes compared with Australia’s Rainbow Serpent, but the traditions are not interchangeable: Akurra belongs specifically to Adnyamathanha cultural knowledge of Country in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges.