Point Pearce. The old limestone Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission School. Built around 1875 when the Moravians and other relgious groups established the Aboriginal Mission. First establishment 1868. School demolished 1960s. New school 1921. Photo 1950s.
Image by denisbin
Point Pearce Aboriginal land.
In 1868 around 600 acres of land was reserved by the SA government on Yorke Peninsula for an Aboriginal mission station. The site selected was known as Bookooyana to the Narungga Aboriginal people as it had fresh water soaks and plentiful fish and shell fish along the coast. But it origins go back to the copper mining town of Moonta where many Narungga had congregated. In the early 1860s missionary work around Moonta began when Reverend W. Julius Kuhn, a Moravian missionary from Germany arrived there. He was supported by the Congregationalists of McLaren Vale through the Aldersey family. Kuhn conducted schools and missionary work for several years and established good rapport with Narungga people. Then in 1867 the Yorke Peninsula Aboriginal Mission committee was established with Captain Hancock the Superintendent of the Moonta Mine as its chairman. The mission committee was nondenominational and members came from several churches. Several sites for a mission station were considered and the Narungga people were involved in the final choice of Point Pearce which had to be at least ten miles from the nearest town (Moonta) so that it was away from the evils of alcohol. When the government granted 600 acres for the mission local residents protested and they asked for a further 8,000 acres of land. Late in 1868 the government relented and granted a further 4,000 acres of land which was needed if the mission was to be largely self-funding and sustainable. The government granted £200 to get the mission established. A residence for Rev Kuhn was built and a stone school room for 30 students. The first wheat crop covering 12 acres was planted in 1872. In 1875 the government granted a further 5,000 acres of land giving the mission 12,800 acres. A stone shearing shed was built on the mission in the late 1870s. The land was controlled by a group of white trustees from the original committee. In 1915 the government abolished that agreement and took direct control of Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission itself. At that time there were 180 residents on Point Pearce Mission. Aboriginal workers on the mission station were meant to be paid between 3 and 12 shillings a week for their labour. This direct and sometimes harsh government control remained in place until 1972 when the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act transferred ownership to the Point Pearce Community Council.
When white settlers (pastoralists) arrived on Yorke Peninsula in the mid-1840s it was estimated that there were about 500 Narungga people. That number probably stayed fairly constant as a Narungga man did a “census” of Narungga people on the Peninsula which was published in the Adelaide Register in January 1866. He reported that there were 252 Narungga living around the Moonta Kadina districts. In 1868 when Point Pearce Mission was established around 70 Narungga joined the mission but because of outbreaks of disease and departures just less than 30 remained in 1874 but it rose again in subsequent years. The tragic years for deaths was 1872 when 16 Narungga died during a whooping cough epidemic. This led to more Narungga deciding to leave the mission. But the number of residents rose again in the late 1870s and by the early 1880s there were 54 residents again. By that time Point Pearce was progressing as a typical 19th century Aboriginal Mission with stone cottages, underground wells, stone fenced paddocks and a store for distributing rations and for the buying of kangaroo skins etc. The Narungga came and went from the Mission as they wanted. In 1883 Kuhn’s school became a government school and was then regularly inspected. A new school was built in 1921 and by the 1950s over 100 children attended Point Pearce School. Now most Narungga students attend Maitland schools but the youngest ones still attend the Burgiyana School at Point Pearce. Rev Kuhn resigned in 1880 and from then onwards Wesleyan Methodist ministers visited the Mission for services and the Anglicans conducted services once a month. Much later the Anglicans dedicated Holy Trinity chapel as an Anglican church in 1970. The Mission seldom made profits except for the period from 1900 to 1913 when the chapel was probably erected. The community hall with a projection box for movies was built in 1936 and officially opened in 1937. The Point Pearce cemetery headstones indicate the names of most of the Narungga families of the Peninsula – Kite, Aguis, Newchurch, Power, Weetra, Williams, Hughes, Kartinyeri, Kropinyeri, Walker etc.
Official figures show that less than 100 people of Aboriginal descent served in the Australian armed forces during World War Two. But this is mainly because Aboriginals did not disclose their ancestry. Thus it is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 people of Aboriginal heritage served in Australian forces during World War Two. The Point Pearce memorial shows how many people from this local area served in their country’s armed forces with Tim Hughes receiving the Military Medal. Timothy was a Narungga person born in 1919 at Point Pearce Mission. He served from 1939 to 1945 with the 2nd 10th Battalion. He was a ‘Rat of Tobruk’ and also saw service in Libya, New Guinea and Borneo. He was awarded the Military Medal for his act of conspicuous gallantry and bravery at the Buna Aerodrome during the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea in September 1942. Whilst his battalion was supporting American units he and his platoon came under Japanese fire from three directions. He made three sorties to provide cover for his comrades to return to safety whilst throwing grenades and operating a machine gun. His citation states that he “…showed remarkable bravery, exceptional coolness and initiative. His total disregard for his own safety set a fine example“. In 1953 after the War Tim took up a Soldier Settlers’ farm near Kingston in the South East which he named ‘Boodkayana’ the traditional name of the Narungga lands where he was born. Tim was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1970 and died in 1976. The Military Medal for noncommissioned personnel is equivalent of the Military Cross which is awarded to commissioned officers in British and Commonwealth forces. It was instigated in 1916. It is the second level below a Victoria Cross and not that many have been awarded to Commonwealth members. From 1916 to 1991 when the award was abolished about 10,000 Australians received a Military Medal and most of those received it for their actions during World War One. Tim Hughes was one of about 50 Narungga people who served in Australia’s forces during World War Two.
