![Kunmunya [Port George IV] 1920](../image_viewer.htm?objects/images/WD0000688 Kunmunya Port George IV 1920.jpg,WD0000688)
Kunmunya [Port George IV] 1920, 2008, by Shaw, Kevin, courtesy of State Library of Western Australia,.
Details
Port George IV Mission began in 1912 at Walcott Inlet in the west Kimberleys, but by 1913 was located at Port George IV. It was run by the Presbyterian Church. Children living on the mission were under the guardianship of the head of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare, but they lived with their families. In 1920 the Mission moved to Kunmunya and took its name from that place. In 1951, residents at Kunmunya and Munja Aboriginal Cattle Station agreed relocate together to Wotjulum Mission.
Port George IV Mission was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1912 on Walcott Inlet in the west Kimberleys. Soon after, a better site was found at Port George IV and the mission was set up there by 1913. By 1920, in search of more arable land and a better water supply, the mission moved again to Kunmunya and took its name from that place.
In 1949, the assets of the government-run Munja Aboriginal Cattle Station and responsibility for the residents at the Munja feeding station were handed over to the missionaries at Kunmunya. The requirement to maintain two populations of people, coupled with disease and crop failure at Kunmunya made things difficult. The Presbyterians consulted with the Aboriginal people at Kunmunya and Munja and eventually there was an agreement to relocate to Wotjulum Mission in 1951.
1912 - 1951 Port George IV Mission
1951 - 1956 Wotjulum
1956 - 1972 Mowanjum
![Kunmunya [Port George IV] 1920](../objects/thumbs/tn_WD0000688 Kunmunya Port George IV 1920.png)
Sources used to compile this entry: State Solicitor's Office of Western Australia, 'pp.113-114', Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, 2005, http://web.archive.org/web/20140126131607/http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/lantu/MediaPublications/Documents/Guide-to-Institutions-attended-by-Aboriginal-people-in-WA-2005.pdf.
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 10 December 2013, Last modified: 10 September 2014
Last updated: 18 January 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE01278b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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