significance

AUSTRALIAN AB0RIGINES RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING Contact with Whites Fatal In the whole of Australia it is estimated that there are 70,000 Australian blacks still living. During the past ten years, the ratio of the increase of aborigines and half-castes at Yarrabah Mission in Queensland has been greater than that of Queensland's white population. __ This is taken in some quarters as an indication that the Aboriginal race can be preserved. Mr. F. Garnett, South Australia's Chief Protector of Aborigines, does not hold that view. "In sixty years a full-blooded Australian black will be a curiosity in South Australia". he said. , 'Full bloods are decreasing to such an extent that 60 years is a conservative estimate". Statistics support Mr. Garnett. Taking official figures over a period of years the decline of ' full-bloods and -the increase of castes indicate that the 'black race is rapidly disappearing". "The Australian black is not black to the same degree as the African negro" he said, "and- the pigments that give his skin a dark, chocolate, tinge are not so deeply imbedded or strong as' the African negro. For that reason, the Australian Aboriginals quickly lose color when crossed with white blood. Most quadroons show only slight traces of black parentage and this fact will eventually wipe. the evidence of the Australian aboriginal existence." Source: The Mail, Adelaide, 31 May 1924 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63787464

Grey Peaks is a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia, 1,374 km northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Coastal Wet Tropics Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for the conservation of lowland tropical rainforest birds.[1] The forests of the national park dominate are dominated by large-fruited red mahogany Eucalyptus pellita and red turpentine Syncarpia glomulifera. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Peaks_National_Park

HISTORY OF THE SETTLE- MENT Yarrabah Mission, situated approximately ten miles from Cairns by launch is conducted by the Church of England and maintained by the Board of Missions and the Government. It was established in 1892, the settlement being opened by Rev. Gribble, who died six months later. His son Rev. E. R. Gribble filled the breach caused by the death of his father, and for seventeen years did faithful service. At the time of our visit, the inhabitants numbered approximately 400. The white staff comprised eleven members, their respective duties being as follows:- Mr. S Lyon, Superintendent. Mrs Lyon, Matron of Hospital Rev. A. C. Flint, Mission Clergyman Mr. R Matthews, in charge of saw-mill. Mr. Howard in charge of cattle and teams. Mr. Thompson, storekeeper, and boys master. Miss Kent, Matron of girls' dormitory. Miss Bain, secretary Misses Howard (2), teachers Mrs Howard (residing with her husband and daughters PASSED EXPERIMENTAL STAGE Mr. Lyon is the type of missionary who evidently believes in the efficacy of teaching a man a congenial trade, and thereby keeping his mind occupied with healthy thoughts if one is to make him increase his self-respect; this, of course, is in addition to wholesome religious teachings. He put his theory into practice at Yarrabah and that it was a success is evident from the moment one steps ashore. Yarrabah has passed the experimental stage! It is now a well-organized community of highly-skilled tradesmen. The township is lit by its own electric light plant and the Houses are "larger: and' cleaner than many of the buildings called "homes" in Cairns. To trace the stages of the evolution of the native from a child of the wilderness to a highly skilled mechanic, carpenter or electrician would seem a tall order, but it means reviewing only a few years of work done at Yarrabah. Source: The Mail, Adelaide, 31 May 1924 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63787464

It is hard to imagine Christianity being taken in worse circumstances to a people than has been the case with Aborigines throughout much of Australia. Christianity has been an intrinsic part of the colonization process and, as a consequence, has been a companion to frontier violence, dispossession, disease, depopulation, and degradation. Christianity was the religion of the white conquerors who assumed authority and control over Aboriginal people. Missionaries were part of the new law that dominated Aboriginal law. This has certainly been the case in North Queensland (Loos 1982). The missionaries were, of course, as much prisoners of their culture as other colonists. From the hindsight of the twentieth century, many of their attitudes toward Aboriginal people can be seen as offensive. Yet, unlike the other colonists, they came to give Aborigines the greatest gift they had to offer: the salvation they had found in Jesus Christ. They confused their salvation with their culture and both with the 'civilization' they tried to impose on Aborigines. Source; Concern and Contempt Church and Missionary Attitudes Towards Aborigines in North Queensland in the Nineteenth Century Noel Loos

Cultural practices, particularly language ceremonies and beliefs were all suppressed during these mission days. Traditional values were transformed swiftly to adopt clothing, and Christianity replaced traditional creation stories. Hunter gathering was discouraged and with the arrival of people from other cultural groups, Gungganji cultural protocols were dismissed. While the Christian missions did help save many Aboriginal people from perishing at the hands of new settlers under the Act of 1897 they controlled curfews, employment, wages, marriages, alcohol and movement outside the mission. Source: www.yarrabah.qld.gov.au/our-history-and-future/