What is the history of Point Pearce Mission?
The Point Pearce Mission Station was established 35 miles south of Wallaroo in 1868. It was run by the Yorke Peninsula Aboriginal Mission committee to assist the Narungga people living on the outskirts of copper mining towns in the area. Moravian Missionary Julius Kuhn was the first superintendent.
What was the settlement like at Point Pearce?
By 1878, ten years after the establishment of the Point Pearce Mission, it’s acreage had been increased, the population had grown considerably and crops were being harvested. The settlement was like a small township with cottages and houses, wool sheds, workshops, a church and large underground stone tanks.
What is the history of Point Pearce Aboriginal station?
In 1894 former residents of the closed Poonindie Mission were shifted to Point Pearce and in 1915, the Mission was taken over by the State Government and became known as the Point Pearce Aboriginal Station.
Are there any ruins at Point Pearce Mission?
The old cart track still remains in use and many old ruins can still be found at the Willow itself, including large tanks, windmills, piping and a pumping shed. Point Pearce Mission was founded in 1868. Generations of Nharangga people had lived and travelled throughout the area before the arrival of the Europeans.
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Who are the traditional owners of Point Pearce?
“Point Pearce land is the Aboriginal people's land, but it's still under the jurisdiction of the government under the Aboriginal Land Trust, so it is ours, but it's not ours so to speak.
What happened in Point Pearce in 1977?
It was early one February morning in 1977. Weetra and another Point Pearce youth, Derek Sansbury, 18, died after Armiento fired an automatic shotgun at them and three other Aboriginal youths attempting to rob his hotel. A coroner's inquest was told one of the party had a . 22 rifle.
How many people live in Point Pearce?
In the 2016 Census, there were 91 people in Point Pearce.
Where is Narungga country?
South AustraliaThe Narungga people, also spelt Narangga, are a group of Aboriginal Australians whose traditional lands are located throughout Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.
What Aboriginal land is Adelaide on?
Adelaide is located on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people. City of Adelaide acknowledges that we are meeting on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and pays respect to Elders past and present.
What did aboriginals land in the Yorke Peninsula?
For thousands of years before European settlement, the traditional owners of Yorke Peninsula were the Narungga people, also known as Adjahdura. They led a peaceful existence, moving among their many campsites while hunting, fishing and gathering food.
What Aboriginal land is Wallaroo on?
NarunggaThe Narungga are the group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands include what is now termed Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The name "Wallaroo" comes from the Aboriginal word wadlu waru, meaning wallaby urine. The early settlers tried to copy the Aboriginals by calling it Walla Waroo.
When did the population of Point Pearce increase?
The population was boosted in 1889 when the Poonindie Mission on Eyre Peninsula closed and Aboriginal people living there were sent to Point Pearce. By 1915 the population reached 173, it peaked at 509 in 1950 and is currently between 300 to 500.
Where is the Point Pearce mission station?
Rowland Hill (District Agricultural instructor) motored me to the Point Pearce mission station, a few miles north of Port Victoria. A settlement of nearly 50 stone huts resembles a township on the cinema. It provides plenty of local color. It is essentially a rendezvous for aborigines, engaged mainly on agricultural and pastoral work.
What happened to the Narungga people after colonization?
In the years following colonisation, the remaining Narungga people lost much of the use of their language and cultural heritage. Once the Point Pearce Mission was opened in 1868, residents were discouraged from speaking their language and practicing their beliefs.
How many acres are there in Point Pearce?
Point Pearce mission station embraces 20000 acres, including 7,000 of Wardang Island, three miles from the mainland. The Broken Hill Proprie tary Company controls flux deposits on the north end of the latter; the remainder is an aborigines reserve.
What is the focal point of the Mission?
The focal point of The Mission is Narrunga Avenue, which was planted with trees at or soon after the turn of the century. At the end of Narrunga Avenue is the church and community hall built in 1937. At the northern end of the Avenue is the former superintendent's house, near the store and original church.
When was Narungga moved to Point Pearce?
The cultural identity of the Narungga was also challenged when Aboriginal people from other language groups were moved to Point Pearce - most significantly after the closure of Poonindie Mission in 1894. But the residents of the Point Pearce Mission maintained their community identity and fought long and hard for their rights to land in Yorke Peninsula. This entitlement was acknowledged in 1972, when ownership of 5,777 hectares was transferred to the Point Pearce Community Council under the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act.
What was the name of the land that the Narungga settlers used to settle?
The land selected was familiar to many of the Narungga who would have often travelled though it. Known to them as Bookooyana, the area was a place where one could find an abundance of shellfish, game and fresh water soaks. Leaseholder Samuel Rogers, was concerned about the effect that such a settlement would have on his water supplies, and tried to fight the Government, but was eventually placated. And so in 1868 about six hundred acres, 35 miles south of Wallaroo, was given over for the establishment of the Yorke's Peninsula Aboriginal Mission, later called Point Pearce.
Why did people leave Point Pearce?
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s residents were taking positions as domestics, or farmhands or joining the armed services and then in the 1950s many gained exemptions under the Aborigines Protection Act and left Point Pearce to try and make better lives for themselves under less strict controls.
When did Narungga move to Point Pearce?
Those Narungga who had resisted living on the Mission were reluctant to pass on their cultural knowledge and language to Mission residents. In 1894 the Mission was thrown into chaos when the former residents of the closed Poonindie Mission were shifted to Point Pearce.
Where was the Narungga people's home?
Point Pearce. Before the coming of the European pastoralists, the Yorke Peninsula was the home of the Narungga people, who occupied the land from near Port Wakefield in the east, over to Port Broughton in the west, and all the way down to the tip of the Peninsula.
Publications
'Point Pearce - South Australia, past and present, for the future', in SA Memory, 2009, . Details
Photos
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Point Pearce - South Australia, past and present, for the future', in SA Memory, 2009, http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1241; 'Indigenous History of the Yorke Peninsula', in Discover the Yorke Peninsula, 2010, https://yorke.sa.gov.au/discover/local-history-and-heritage/indigenous-culture/the-nharangga/..
What was the purpose of the Yorke Peninsula Aboriginal Mission?
This mission achieved what many others aspired - to engage Aboriginal people in productive work with a financial benefit. Residents of the three townships on Yorke Peninsula, Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta formed the Board of Trustees of Yorke Peninsula Aboriginal Mission in 1859 to address the displacement of Aboriginal people under the onslaught ...
How did the Aboriginal people get into the mission?
Aboriginal people resented the institutionalisation of their children, but Kühn gradually drew the adults into the mission by purchasing large amounts of skins from the men in the camps (60 dozen in the quarter to December 1875) at market price (above the price paid by others in the region), and sold clothing and rations at the mission store at cost price. Soon the mission had 12 acres under wheat and was paying wages for adults employed. The sheep flock grew to 1,300 of which 200 were killed for meat, about 110 lost, and which produced a good clip with 20 bales. Farmers Wehr and Hofrescher helped with making hay.
When was Point Pearce Aboriginal Reserve transferred to Aboriginal lands trust?
In 1972 the Point Pearce Aboriginal Reserve was transferred to an Aboriginal lands trust and is now administered by a council of nine elected members. There have been a number of changes to The Mission over the years and few of the earlier buildings survive.
When is the 150th anniversary of Point Pearce?
A SPECIAL event will be held to celebrate 150 years since the settlement of Point Pearce on Friday, September 28. The celebration will be dedicated to the past and present Elders of Point Pearce and the Point Pearce Aboriginal Corporation has organised a program of activities from 9.30am to 4pm.
How many acres were there in the 1868 census?
In 1868 a grant of 639 acres (later increased to eight square miles) was made by the Government. A further six and a quarter square miles was later granted. To cope with an increasing population and in order to provide employment opportunities, an additional twenty square miles was requested.
What were the mining towns of the Peninsula?
After the discovery of copper in 1861 the mining towns of Moonta, Wallaroo and Kadina developed. The further settlement of the Peninsula restricted the nomadic life of the aborigine resulting in hardship and privation for them. Governor Fergusson's Legacy. Page 55
Where is Point Pearce Station?
The Point Pearce Station is situated between Maitland and the sea, about nine miles from the former and one and a half from the latter, and this contiguity to the sea is a great advantage for the natives in the matter of fishing, who do a considerable business in that line.
When did Narungga move to Point Pearce?
Those Narungga who had resisted living on the Mission were reluctant to pass on their cultural knowledge and language to Mission residents. In 1894 the Mission was thrown into chaos when the former residents of the closed Poonindie Mission were shifted to Point Pearce.
Which mission was founded in 1859?
Point Macleay, situated on the shores of Lake Alexandrina, had the largest number of parsons in its charge and was best known, partly because it was the most easily accessible from Adelaide. This mission was founded in 1859 by the Rev. George Taplin, under the auspices of the Aborigines' Friends' Society.