aboriginal

Yarrabah Mission, now known as Yarrabah Community, was founded by Reverend John Brown (JB) Gribble in 1892 to protect the Gunggandji’s from the ongoing rampant exploitation of these people. JB fell ill shortly after he arrived so his eldest son Ernest inherited his legacy. Ernest Gribble went on to become one of the most controversial Missionaries in Australia. His career lasted for 64 years, making him the longest-serving Anglican Missionary. Gribble aspired for the Yarrabah population to take pride and control in their community. He implemented a government, formed from indigenous members, and a court (also staffed by indigenous members of the community) that monitored the behavior of the residents. Gribble also crowned a King, King Menmuny, who reigned over the Mission and looked after his people. By 1904, another mission on Fraser Island was closed and 117 residents were forcibly relocated to Yarrabah Mission. A move which was naturally resented and resisted by those involved. Mass breakouts and instances of insubordination became common so the court decided to expel the ringleaders to Fitzroy Island. Gribble secured a lease on Fitzroy Island in 1905 and the first 30 people were moved out to the new outstation ‘Kobahra’. The Kobahra residents were quick to build eight buildings including a coral church. They also planted coconuts, paw paws, mangoes, yams and other crops in an effort to become self-sufficient on the island. The settlement was closed in 1912 after residents petitioned the Protector of Aboriginals for their release. The island continued to be leased to the Yarrabah Mission for many years afterwards. While the Yarrabah Mission no longer maintained a permanent population on Fitzroy Island, it became a popular location for special occasions such as picnics and organised outings. World War II With the outbreak of war in the Pacific the Yarrabah Mission lost its’ lease. The Imperial Japanese Navy had a series of submarines patrolling our coast and attacking shipping. Cairns was the nearest main port for traffic bound to Papua New Guinea via Townsville. Due to the constant threat of attack, the No. 28 Radar Station was established on Fitzroy Island in 1942. No. 28 Radar Station monitored all shipping and air traffic approaching Cairns. Welcome Bay also served as a transient mooring for destroyers and cruisers waiting to join shipping convoys heading to Port Moresby. Between 1942 and 1945 over 100 servicemen served with the No. 28 Radar Station. In addition to the Radar Station, servicemen also manned a Wireless Signal Station and a Morse code-blinking Lighthouse. Submarine Indicator Loops spread through Welcome Bay were constantly monitored. The combination of these efforts uncovered a Japanese submarine lurking around the island in May 1943. The station monitored its movements for nine days while it avoided multiple attempts by the Royal Australian Navy to destroy it with depth charges. It finally slipped away on the 17th of May leaving the Investigating Officers at a loss as to its mission although it was theorized that it may have been dropping off or collecting spies. The World War II military base camp was on the site of the current Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. The dam constructed by the servicemen to store water can be seen at the start of the Summit track. Source: www.fitzroyisland.com/explore-fitzroy/history/

The children at the mission learned to read and write in Guugu Yimidhirr (which had been transcribed earlier by the missionaries), and the girls helped in the missionaries’ houses and in the garden. It was routine for the girls to be confined to a dormitory each night and to have limited access to their families. Initially, the missionary Wilhelm Poland supervised them closely at Elim while the senior missionary, Georg Heinrich Schwarz, attempted to establish a second station at Hope Valley. This arrangement was altered in 1890 after the older girls, including Mulun, secretly invited Guugu Yimidhirr boys into their dormitory at night. Thereafter the older girls were periodically sent to Hope Valley to stay with Schwarz. Source: ia.anu.edu.au/biography/mulun-magdalena-29712

Lutheran involvement in the Cooktown area began in 1885 when missionary Johann Flierl stopped off at Cooktown on his way to New Guinea. He later received government permission to start a mission station. The original mission sites were at Elim and Cape Bedford. Elim became known as Hope Valley, and later Hope Vale. The Immanuel Lutheran Synod in South Australia supported work amongst the Gungu Yimidhirr people by sending missionaries C.A. Meyer, George Schwarz and Wilhelm Poland. At the outbreak of the Second World War the people, along with missionary Schwartz, were interned at Woorabinda, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. In just one month twenty eight people lost their lives with nearly a quarter of the people dying over the next eight years. In 1986 the community became the first to receive a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) and formed the Hope Vale Aboriginal Council. In 1997 a Native Title determination was made concerning the lands of the Hope Vale. Source: aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/MS...

The Guugu Yimithirr people like all Aborigines in Australia have been here for approximately 100,000 years. The Guugu Yimithirr first came to prominence in 1770 when they engaged with Captain James Cook and his crew on the good ship Endeavour. As is well known in history the Guugu Yimithirr hosted Captain Cook at present day Cooktown (Gungarr) for 7 weeks. During this time he not only had to repair the Endeavour he also met the Guugu Yimithirr people and engaged in dialogue along with Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson. They gathered a word list of the Guugu Yimithirr language and from this encounter the Guugu Yimithirr have been immortalised in the English language by giving the name to that giant hopping marsupial-Gangurru-Kangaroo. Hope Valley Mission was founded in January of 1886 by the Lutheran Missionary John Flierl. He was on his way to establish a mission in New Guinea but was held up in Cooktown and during the idle time he began work amongst the Guugu Yimithirr clans in Cooktown. He established himself as missionary on the Cape Bedford Aboriginal Reserve, choosing a spot on the bay north of Cape Bedford which he called Elim. Source: www.hopevale.qld.gov.au/history