The Finke River Mission was an alternative name for the Hermannsburg Mission on the Finke River from 1877. After the establishment of government settlements at Haasts Bluff, Areyonga and later, Papunya, the term Finke River Mission was often used to refer to all these stations collectively. In 2014, the Lutheran Church of Australia retrospectively used the term Finke River Mission to refer to all Lutheran Missionary activity in the Northern Territory from 1877 onwards.
The Notice of Incorporation for the ‘Evangelical Lutheran Mission on the Finke River’ from c.1887 states that the purpose of the Mission was the ‘civilisation and evangelism of the Aborigines of Central Australia’, and covered an area of 900 square miles on and between the Krichauff and MacDonnell Ranges.
As well as Hermannsburg, the missions at Haast’s Bluff (1941 to 1954) and Papunya (c.1975 to c.1984) were under the control of the Finke River Mission Board (source: correspondence with Lutheran Archives, August 2019).