Nardaparli is the great grand daughter of Rosie Burragalong-Davis and Mickey Johnson who were known as King Mickey and Queen Rosie of the Illawarra. Rosie was the daughter of Paddy Burragalong Davis known as the Chieftain of the Illawarra tribe and Biddy Giles who was a senior member of the Gweagal people of the Georges River and Botany Bay. Nardaparli is related through her father George Brown to the Yuin clans of the far south coast. Her great aunt Ellen Anderson (nee Burragalong-Davis) recounted many traditional stories in early compilations of South Coast Aboriginal language and stories. Ellen with her husband Hughy travelled the country in the 1890s from Maloga Mission on the Murray River to Kangaroo Valley where they tried to start an independent community to Kiama and the Georges River in Sydney. When Nardaparli paints she feels her ancestors guiding her and finds it hard to stop until a painting is finished.