Butcher Cherel Janangoo was born around 1920 at Jalnganjoowa. This is near the original homestead on one of the longest established cattle stations in the Kimberley, Fossil Downs. He now lives in town at Fitzroy Crossing.

His mother was Kija and his father, Gooniyandi. He speaks both of these languages as well as some Walmajarri and Bunuba. Both of his parents worked on the station in and around the homestead and he recalls being taken out bush for walkabout and at law time. With the two of them working on the station, it follows that Butcher also spent most of his working life on Fossil Downs. As a stockman he worked cattle, droving from Fitzroy Crossing to Derby and Broome. This time was hard as he remembers “real hard”. He says that he lost his law for a while as a young adult whilst working on the station, however he has maintained his understanding of traditional lessons received from his parents and grandparents.

Butcher is a key elder of the Gooniyandi language group and has been instrumental in the retention of Law ceremony at Muludja Community. He sees Aboriginal Law and language as fundamentally important and feels uneasy that young people today do not have this tradition to refer to as they have not been educated as he was.

As he stated, “With my eyes, my heart and with my brain I am thinking.  When I go to sleep night time, I might talk to myself, ‘ah, I might do [paint] that one tomorrow’, not dreaming; I think about what to do next.” (1996).