Born under a tree at Christmas Creek Station of Wangkatjungka descent in Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley, Western Australia, Ningali Lawford's family had worked on and managed Kimberley Stations for generations. She trained as a dancer at the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, then joined the Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney. She was a director of the Indigenous-owned Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company, which took control of more than 700,000 hectares of cattle country in 2019 before Lawford's death.