Mulrunji

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Mulrunji is the honorific title^* of deceased Palm Island resident Cameron Doomadgee who died in custody on Friday, 19 November 2004 leading to the 2004 Palm Island death in custody controversy. In 2004 Mulrunji was a hunter, diver and father of one.

Mulrunji was the ninth of ten children in a typical Aboriginal family on Palm Island, he was the son of a local laborer.^[1]

A talented rugby league player while at Halifax State School near Ingham, the closest mainland town to Palm Island. Mulrunji was a boarder student at the school along with 40 other Palm Island children. He than became a fullback for the Palm Island Skipjacks rugby league team. In 1989, while still a teenager, Mulrunji fathered Eric Doomadgee with local girl, Lyn Watkins.^[1]

Mulrunji's (like 90% of the Palm Island population) primary employment experience was though the Work for the Dole scheme where he mowed grass and lawns around public buildings for which he was paid $230 a week.^[1]

His abilities as a diver are fondly remembered by residents, catching crayfish from the shallow reefs, his main sideline was catching mudcrabs and selling them to locals for $10 per live crab. By local accounts Mulrunji liked a drink, but was not an alcoholic (in any case he could not afford to drink to any extreme level) however when he started drinking, he didn't stop until he was drunk.^[1]

A regular activity was hunting with his son, Mulrunji, they have been described as "good mates, as well as hunting and diving companions". They hunted for possums, goats and wallabies with spears and dogs.^[1]

Mulrunji's only criminal history was one count of "going armed in public" however his family maintain that he had never used or owned a gun. He had no convictions for violence, reinforced by the community perception of a "happy-go-lucky" man.^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Honorific title:- The title "Mulrunji" was chosen by the family according to their cultural beliefs, it is intended to disguise him from evil spirits while he is in transition. He should not be referred to by any other name, including his surname, where it is avoidable. This cultural protocol/etiquette has been misunderstood by most media as being Mulrunji's first name and so it has been common practice across the media to report his name as "Mulrunji Doomadgee".