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In 1885, Rev
F H Hagenauer, a German Moravian missionary, journeyed to
Queensland, on behalf of the Victorian Presbyterian Church and at
the request of the Heathen Mission Committee of the Victorian
Church. Following a favourable report, the year after Mr
Hagenauer's visit to Queensland in 1886, the first Federal Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church in Australia and New Zealand agreed to
establish a mission to the Aboriginal people in North
Queensland.
Following the Assembly of 1890, the Foreign
missions committee asked the Moravian Mission Board in Germany to
supply missionaries for North Queensland. A site was chosen on
the west coast of Cape York at the mouth of the Batavia River, which
later became known as Mapoon. In June 1891, Nicholas Hey and
John Ward left Ireland for Australia to become the first
missionaries on the Cape. Life was extremely difficult and
there were many complex issues to be faced. John Ward died at
Mapoon in January 1898 two years after it was formally
established.
Weipa Mission was founded in 1896, approximately
110 km south of Mapoon. The site had been selected by Hey and
was some 40 km up the Embley River at a site now referred to as "Old
Station". Weipa Mission had been planned in order to extend
influence further south. Rev Edwin and Mrs Freida Brown were
selected to work at the Weipa station. They worked at Mapoon
as assistants to Hey for some time before going to Weipa. When
they did finally settle permanently at Weipa they were accompanied
by seven Mapoon men who had been converted and trained.
In
1903 the Home Secretary stated publicly that he intended to divide
Cape York peninsula into Aboriginal Reserves apportioning the
interested Presbyterian and Anglican denominations, geographical
spheres of influence expanding as far "as the enthusiasm of the
church members would carry it". He made it clear that any
denomination could have an Aboriginal reserve. This had the
effect of extending, in due course, the existing reserves, and in
August 1904 the Archer River Mission, later to be known as Aurukun,
was established. Albert Richter was selected to begin the
mission.
Between 1917 and 1919 five of the pioneer Moravian
missionaries retired from the North Queensland stations. Mrs
Ward in 1917, Mr and Mrs Brown in 1918 and Mr & Mrs Hey in
1919. Also, due to the aftermath of the First World War Albert
Richter was detained in Germany, meaning that all the Moravians were
gone. About this time, the missions ceased to be foreign
missions of the Moravian Church and became Presbyterian
Missions. Control was transferred to the Queensland
Presbyterian Church in 1923.
Of the missionaries of this next
period, two who particularly stand out are: Rev JRB Love and Rev
'Bill' Mackenzie. These men, in common with an increasing
number of the staff, were keen to learn the Aboriginal culture and
philosophy and to base their control and interaction on this.
Robert Love resigned in 1926 and went to another mission in Western
Australia. Mr and Mrs Mackenzie, a qualified teacher, were to
remain at Aurukun until 1965 to give it the greatest period of
stability of all the stations.
The period between the wars
would appear to have been stable, except for Weipa where the
disadvantages of the "Old Station" site were brought to a head by
the outbreak of malaria. The mission was shifted down the
river to Jessica Point.
In 1937 radios installed in all the
Cape York stations. In 1951 plans to merge Mapoon and Weipa
were dropped when a geologist, Harry Evans, discovered bauxite at
Weipa. As stations expanded, the Government subsidy for the
maintenance and education of the Aborigines also grew. In
1953, the Government informed the Church that it would give no
further aid to Mapoon unless the Church could form a policy of
rehabilitation and self support. The station was formally
closed on 28 February 1963. In 1973/74 some people returned to
Old Mapoon, as opposed to "New Mapoon" at Bamaga.
From "Research Project - The History Of Presbyterian
Mission Establishment & Development In North
Queensland"
By Neil McGarvie,
November 1977
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