The main gorge that runs through Purnunulu is traditionally mens country. Nowgarlwin i the Gija name for this place. Nowgarlwin is also a sand frog who buries himself in the sand at this place.

At the gorge lives a small bat with long ears called Binjilmin. Binjilmin is highly significant in mens initiation for Gija people. The gorge itself is so powerful that any strangers, and particularly women, who enter can become severely disoriented and potentially lost forever if no custodian for that country is around to welcome them properly to the area. The spirits here can make people 'lose their thinking'.