Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Darwin.

[5] The present toponym is an anglisation of the word Kunbarlanja[6] current in Kunwinjku, the language of the people who now live there, who began moving into the area from the east following the Cahill's establishment of his cattle station there in 1909.

[7] Dyer and his wife Mary established a typical mission station, with church, school, dispensary, garden, and store, to which they added pastoral work with feral cattle and horses.

[9] In 1933, Nell Harris, a young woman of 29 years old, was taught Kunwinkju by the local people, and, along with Hannah Mangiru and Rachel Maralngurra, translated the Gospel of Mark into the language.

[citation needed] The 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land visited Oenpelli for three months and collected a large array of local artefacts, art, and specimens.

Leader of the Expedition Charles Mountford returned to Oenpelli in 1949, when the Adelaide Advertiser reported his ‘new’ discovery of cave paintings at Obiri—a shelter 18m long and 2.7m high which contained tens of thousands of figures.

[16] Gunbalanya is the largest town in the area and the nearest population centre to Awunbarna, also known as Mount Borradaile, a mountain about 120 metres (390 ft) above sea level about 34.9 kilometres (21.7 mi) away.

About 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) before Jabiru, the sealed road turns off to Ubirr, the Border Store, Cahill's Crossing on the East Alligator River, and Oenpelli.

While this road is generally navigable by four-wheel drive vehicle, the river crossing is a causeway which is closed by flooding during the wet season (November to April) and at high tides.

This soon became a cottage industry, and several important Aboriginal artists, including Lofty Bardayal, Mick Kubarrku[23] and Dick Murramurra[24] transferred their rock art skills to bark.