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Elcho Island Mission

Elcho Island Mission was opened by the Methodist Overseas Mission in 1942 on Elcho Island when missionaries and residents of Milingimbi Mission moved to Elcho Island to take refuge from Japanese bombing during World War II. A school was operating at the Mission in the 1950s. It appears the Mission did not operate Mission dormitories….

Croker Island Mission

The Croker Island Mission was established by the Methodist Overseas Mission on Croker Island in 1941. Children from Darwin and Alice Springs were accommodated in temporary cottages until February 1942 when they were evacuated to institutions in New South Wales. In 1946 the children returned to Croker Island where they lived in eight new cottages….

Rapid Creek Mission

Rapid Creek Mission was established by Jesuit Missionaries at Rapid Creek in 1882. Missionaries opened a school for children in 1883. No dormitory was established and children continued to live with their families. The Mission closed in 1891 due to financial and other problems. The Rapid Creek Mission, also known as St Joseph’s Mission was…

The Bungalow

The establishment of the Bungalow in Alice Springs in 1913 initiated the forcible removal of Aboriginal children in Central Australia under the Aboriginals Ordinance 1911. At this time, the NT government policy was to “breed out the colour” (Knightley 2001), in part through the forced assimilation of Aboriginal children who were believed to have white…

Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission

The Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission, also known as Old Uniya, was established by Jesuit missionaries on the Daly River in 1886. Although missionaries aimed to educate and convert children, no dormitories were established. The mission closed in July 1891 and was reopened at a new location a few months later. It was then…

Hermannsburg Mission

The Hermannsburg Mission was established on the banks of the Finke River by Lutheran missionaries from the Hermannsburg Missionary Society and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia in 1877. It was the last and longest-running Mission run by the Lutheran Church in Australia. A School House was built at the Mission in 1896 and separate…

Milingimbi Mission

Milingimbi Mission was established in 1923 by the Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia, later known as the Methodist Overseas Mission, on Milingimbi Island. The Mission operated a dormitory for boys until the mid 1930s. A school was run at the Mission from 1935. During World War II the Milingimbi Mission was bombed twice by the…

Goulburn Island Mission

The Goulburn Island Mission was established in 1916 by the Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia, later known as the Methodist Overseas Mission. It was located on South Goulburn Island. Dormitories for children operated until the mid-1930s and children attended a Mission school. Control of the Mission was handed to the local Aboriginal Community in 1973….

Rose River Mission

Rose River Mission, also known as Numbulwar Mission, was established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) on the East Coast of Arnhem Land in 1952. It was the fourth of five missions run in the Northern Territory by the CMS. A school for Aboriginal children was run at the Mission. In 1978 a Community Council…

Oenpelli Mission

Oenpelli Mission was established by the Church Missionary Society in 1925 at the site of the Government run Oenpelli Aboriginal Reserve. Situated in the Alligator River District the Mission provided accommodation, education, medical care and religious instruction to Aboriginal children. Dormitories for Aboriginal children operated at the Mission until the mid 1950s. In 1975 control…