mission

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

Embraced by mother nature in his sweet dreams.

Ancient traditions Yarrabah is the traditional country of the Gunggandji and Mandingalbay Yidinji people. These people had traditional beliefs and values different from those we have today. They were guided by Buleru, ancestral spirits who gave us our cultural law, belief system, and creation stories and followed a defined social structure and kinship system. Our people were hunters and gatherers, and the surrounding rainforest and beachside traditional lands around Cape Grafton provided food in abundance. Dwellings were made from material found within the environment, the structure dependent on wet season or dry season needs. The lands we occupy are ancient. Our people have a connection to the country stretching back into the dream time. Our local customs and traditions, continue today and our people continue their responsibilities as custodians of the land. Source: www.gyhsac.org.au/site/user-assets/Yarrabah%20Community%2...

Living Conditions: Dormitories were where children from the age of 10 lived Under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 children were started to be taken from their parents and kept in these dormitories In the early 1900s the church created unpaid work for all of the residents at the mission which was compulsory Children worked in agriculture to supply food Businesses from Cairns also used the Aboriginals for cheap labor in local industries including coffee and sugar farming 'We never had any choices back in those days. We was told to do what we had to do. It wasn't a good place to live. It was very difficult' Eric Bell a Nugunnawal elder 'We never had any choices back in those days. We were told to do what we had to do. It wasn't a good place to live. It was very difficult' Eric Bell a Nugunnawal elder Children used to hide in shrubs and bushy areas to hide from the government people when they came around The point of missions was to protect the Aboriginal people of the surrounding area Their goal was also to 'Christianize' the Aboriginal people At the time many people didn’t like them because they wanted their own land the colonial government responded by setting up reserves or stations Aboriginal people who heavily restricted to their land and freedom The reserves had their own machinery and the Aboriginals were forced to crop and look after livestock Devastating things went on at the missions such as disease, pastoral expansion, and conflict. Source: yarrabahlife.weebly.com/yarrabah-mission.html