Milminyina was born in 1960 at Wirrwawuy, near Yirrkala and Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula, at the very northeastern tip of the Northern Territory. She is the daughter of Gumatj woman Rrirraliny Yunupiŋu (a daughter of famous arist and political figure Mungurrawuy Yunupiŋu), and Gunguyuma Dhamarrandji, who was brought up by the legendary Djapu leader Woŋgu Munuŋgurr. Her märi, or mother’s mother’s clan, is Rirratjiŋu, the landowners of Yirrkala, who share many sacred designs with the Djambarrpuyŋu of this area. The Djambarrpuyŋu clan which she belongs to are mainly based in the Westerly end of the Yolŋu nation near a major sacred site at Buckingham Bay. This arm of the clan use the surname Guyula. A small cluster of the clan is based around a group of sacred sites at Yirrkala. These people are known by the surname Dhammarrandji. In the ancestral everywhen the spirit people of this place and the offshore islands in the form of terns conducted ceremony around the Merri or sacred string which was cut. The short string was given to the Rirratjiŋu and the longer to the Djambarrpuyŋu. Hence the Rirratjiŋu are sedentary here and the Djambarrpuyŋu range far to the West.

The main theme she painted until 2022 was the crescent shapes of Rulyapa, the saltwater country estates shared by these two clans. She was taught to paint and weave by her mother, having grown up watching her work. She was educated at Dhupuma College, on her mother’s Gumatj land at Guḻkuḻa, and attended workshops at Wollongong University in printing and etching in 1996. She also painted on ceramics and assisted with painting yiḏaki while residing on Gumatj land at Gunyaŋara’ from the 1990’s, until relocating to her märi land at Yirrkala in 2003 and on to Gälaru in 2006. She had sold paintings on canvas for years but recently expanded her presence and status working on bark paintings and Larrakitj (memorial poles) at Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka. It was in this context that she began to explore the theme of the songlines associated with ceremonies connected to Dhambadiŋ (Death or Deaf Adder) on Bremer Island. She is an active and engaged member of her community who is seen as a truly positive force. She is always friendly and cheerful and has a keen intelligence. She involves herself fully in ceremony and community welfare. In 2023 she travelled to the USA twice within one month- the first trip to open the ‘Maḏayin- Eighty Years of bark painting from Yirrkala’ in Washington and the second to guide a group of school children from Gunyuŋarra to a robot competition which they did very well in.

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Djirrirra (also known as Yukuwa) first began painting while aiding her father, Yanggarriny Wunuŋmurra (1932-2003), towards his Telstra Award winning painting of 1997 and up until his death in 2003. Also assisting her brother Nawurapu Wunuŋmurra during this time.

She now primarily paints her own works. Attracting interest in the art world with her precise hand and geometric style. Yukuwa (yam) has become a distinct theme in her practice. This motif formed when she had been questioned about her right to paint Buyku, the fishtrap imagery of her own clan and homeland by a family member. Rather than disagreeing she responded by painting imagery which has defined in a sense, her own personal identity.

Her first major exhibition in 2006 at Raft Artspace in Darwin also coincided with her first visit outside of Arnhem Land. She was selected in 2007 for Cross Currents, a major art survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Her notoriety was secured when she was awarded Winner of the TOGA Northern Territory Contemporary Art Award in 2008. This then led to her first solo show at Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne in 2009.

Following on from her father and brother in 2012 as a Telstra winner with Best Bark at the 29th NATSIAA with her distinctive Yukuwa theme. She has exhibited in the US and China and in Australia previously with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne and Short street in Broome. Living within the remote homeland of Gangan since she was born (before Western housing was erected) and has three children. Her work has been exhibited across Australia and internationally in Paris, London, Milan, Freiburg, Aspen, Idaho, Santa Fe, Seattle, Virginia, Shanghai and Singapore.

Datjuluma lives and works in Gunyangara (Ski Beach) in North East Arnhemland. She is married to Djawa Yunupingu senior Gumatj clan leader and younger brother of Galarrwuy Yunupiŋu one of the most senior Gumatj Clan leaders.

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Her father Waratjima Guyula was part of a small number of Djambarrpuyŋu clan members who lived around Yirrkala whilst most of this large clan are based in Western Yolŋu country. There is an ancient sacred connection between this clan and the Rirratjiŋu landowners of Yirrkala stemming form a shared songline Djarrak – the sea tern. Her mother Naminapu Maymuru is a well known Maŋgalili artist whom is famous for her paintings of the Milŋiyawuy, Milky Way paintings as well as her more classical Maŋgalili bark paintings. Naminapu and her family were part of the thriving artist’s school which developed around her grandfathers Narritjin and Nanyin Maymuru.

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Datjuluma is following both her parents in there artistic careers and is forming a strong visual identity as a powerful artist in her own right.