It's an affectionate term of celebration: of achievement, of possibility, of hope and of survival.
For that reason, it's the theme of this year's NAIDOC Week: 50 Years of Deadly.
But the term also has a degree of malleability, and it isn't used universally.
For multidisciplinary artist Zaachariaha Fielding, deadly is a more "western, urban" word.
Instead, Fielding says 'wiru'.
"Like, something beautiful, something solid, that's how you do it - that's what I resonate with," he told AAP.
Not that Fielding, an Adelaide-based Pitjantjatjara-Yankunyjatjara man, is disputing the power of deadly heading into NAIDOC Week.
Fielding, originally from the desert community of Mimili on APY Country in northern South Australia, is this year's winner of the National NAIDOC Week poster competition for his stunning work, titled "Paraulpi".
NAIDOC co-chair Steven Satour said the national committee was "gobsmacked" when they saw Fielding's piece.
"It's his story of NAIDOC and what it represents," Mr Satour told AAP.
"It just spoke to us, we were all just gobsmacked by it. He's such a gifted, talented person. It's just gorgeous."
Fielding, the son of another celebrated Mimili artist Robert Fielding, said Paraulpi was an act of homage and acknowledgement.
"You can't help but give respect to your lineage, those people before you," he said.
He said Paraulpi also represented life on the cusp of both the western and Anangu worlds.
"I understood boarding school, I understand desert world, I understand my culture and my language, and the different feelings of speaking both," he said.
"Yankunytjatjara is its own language, but it's always translated for English; English is never translated for Yankunytjatjara."
Fielding, also a singer and musician with electronic duo Electric Fields, said the vibrant colours of Paraulpi - especially the deep reds - represented the DNA of Mimili.
"Blood is so powerful and beautiful and its colour, and we all bleed red," he said.
"The way I wanted that palette to be is just to look within and go deeper and deeper with who you are."
Mr Satour said NAIDOC itself was a tribute to the spirit of First Nations communities who have worked tirelessly to transform its origins as a day of mourning to a national week-long celebration.
The foundations of NAIDOC go back to 1938, when First Nations protesters marched through the streets of Sydney on Australia Day - one of the first civil rights protests in the world.
"From little things big things grow," Mr Satour said - referencing the famous song co-written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody.
He said that deadly captured a sentiment that appealed to the next generation of Indigenous Elders.
"It's been around as long as I can remember, my aunties and uncles, Mum and Dad and Elders used it, so it's been around a long time," Mr Satour said.
"It's such a part of Blackfella vernacular. It represents excellence, strength, leadership, humour, culture and resilience."
11°C