Debra McDonald's husband was the son of renowned artist Mitjili Naparrula (1945-2019), and over the years Debra and Mitjili became inseparable, spending days and weeks on end painting together. Mitjili gave Debra permission to incorporate her Watiya (Mulga) design into her paintings, and after Mitjili's death, her family gave permission for Debra to continue painting the Watiya story in full. Debra says that she still thinks of Mitjili when she paints the Watiya story.

Mulga (acacia aneura) is a native wattle plant, a member of the acacia genus. It is an evergreen shrub that dominates arid outback areas of Australia. This tree is deeply important to Indigenous people of the desert regions as a significant provider; the seeds of the mulga tree are edible, and beloved bush tuckers of witchetty grubs and honey ants can be found underground within their root systems. The hard wood of the watiya trees are ideal for making wooden objects, and is used to hand-carve weapons, coolamons, and ceremonial objects.