Histories of some Aboriginal missions have been brought together on the other pages of this Library Guide. This page brings together some of the missions that have been less-written about.
To find further resources about these, try searching with these subject heading in the State Library catalogue:
Aboriginal Australians - Missions - South Australia
(Name of the church) - Missions - (Geographical location)
Or conduct a keyword search using the following terms:
Aborigin* and mission*
Aborigin* and (Geographical location)
(Name of mission) eg. Gerard
Some of the resources mentioned on the Home page of this Library Guide will also contain information on individual missions.
South Australian Protector's reports can be browsed by year on the AIATSIS website. Keyword searching within each report can locate relevant information.
To locate journal articles, access the State Library's eResources.
Selected Australian newspapers, published prior to 1955, have been digitised as part of the National Library of Australia’s Trove website.
Further newspaper articles may be identified by using the following, Newspaper index : references to Aborigines in Adelaide newspapers, 1836-1940, 1989.
Brauer, A. Missionary Clamor Wilhelm Schurmann, 1937.
Journal of Friends of Lutheran Archives. no. 10, Oct 2000. 'The first Lutheran missionaries in South Australia and their contribution to Kaurna language reclamation and the reconciliation movement.'
Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia. v. 28, nos 1-2, Dec 1990. Foster, Robert. 'The Aborigines Location in Adelaide: South Australia's first 'mission' to the Aborigines.'
Kennedy, William. Lutheran missionary to the Aborigines Pastor Christian Gottlöb Teichelmann 1807-1888 : his family, life & times, 1989.
Klose, Samuel. Missionary to the Kaurna: the Klose letters, 2002.
Lutheran Church of Australia archives (website). The Library holds Guide to records of Indigenous Australians in the Lutheran Archives, Adelaide, SA which contains name indexes for various registers and files relating to the Adelaide mission.
Newspaper cuttings, manuscript notes etc. relating to C.G. Teichelmann and C.W. Schurmann
Piltawodli Native Location (1838-1845)
Schurmann, Ted. I'd rather dig potatoes : Clamor Schurmann and the Aborigines of South Australia, 1838-1853, 1987.
See also the Library Guide about the Kaurna people.
Dodd, Reg and Gibson, Jen. 'Learning Times: An Experience of Arabana Life and Mission Education' in Aboriginal History, vol. 13, 1989.
Dodd, Reg and McKinnon, Malcolm. Talking sideways : stories and conversations from Finniss Springs, 2019. Find and Connect. Finniss Springs Mission.
Gerard, A.E. United Aborigines' Mission (of Australia): an outline of the history of the mission particularly in South Australia, 1950.
Pearce, Andrew. The land of sunburnt babies, 1946.
Survival in our own land : 'Aboriginal' experiences in 'South Australia' since 1836, Ch. 31 ‘Finniss Springs’.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.) Annual report of United Aborigines' Mission, 1939-1973, incomplete. (This has been indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue.)
Wood, Jean and Arbon, Veronica. My stories, 2010.
Anderson, Sue, Hemming, Steve and Hunter, Richard. Swan Reach Mission: archaeology, history and anthropology, 1999.
Fitzgerald, Paul. A study of the Gerard Aboriginal Reserve Community, 1971.
George, Karen. Finding your own way : a guide to records of children's homes in South Australia, Ch. 8, 2005.
Gerard, A.E. United Aborigines' Mission (of Australia): an outline of the history of the mission particularly in South Australia, 1950.
God cares for the Aborigines, 1946.
Information and challenge, 1945. (Opening of the Gerard Mission)
Life on Swan Reach Mission, 1925-1956. A series of six recordings with Aboriginal people who grew up on the Swan Reach Mission, 1996.
The new mission on the Murray : Gerard via Berri..., 1946.
Oral History Association of Australia Journal. no.19, 1997. Anderson, Sue, Rigney, Agnes and Hunter, Richard. 'Mission life unearthed: an Aboriginal perspective on Swan Reach.'
Survival in our own land : 'Aboriginal' experiences in 'South Australia' since 1836, Ch. 27 ‘Swan Reach and Gerard’.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.) Annual report of United Aborigines' Mission, 1939-1973, and, Aborigine news, 1974-1984). (This has been indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue.)
Cato, Nancy. Mister Maloga : Daniel Matthews and his mission, Murray River, 1864-1902, 1976.
History Australia, Vol. 8 no. 3, Patricia Grimshaw, 'Rethinking approaches to women in missions: The case of colonial Australia'.
History Australia, Vol. 7, no. 1, Claire McLisky, 'The location of faith: power, gender and spirituality in the 1883-84 Maloga Mission revival'.
Matthews, Daniel. From darkness and death : a record of sixteen years of Gospel work and its results among the Aboriginal blacks of Australia, 1890.
Matthews, Daniel. The story of the Maloga Aboriginal Mission, 1900.
Matthews, Daniel. Papers of Daniel Matthews founder of Maloga Mission, and co-founder of Manunka Mission.
Matthews, Janet. The story of the Manunka Aborigines' Mission Home, Forster, Murray River, S.A. 1904 & 1905. Also online.
Matthews, Mrs Daniel. The story of the Manunka Aborigines' Mission Home, Forster, Murray River, South Australia. (Continued) January 1st, 1908 to October 31st, 1909, 1910.
Norman Family. Papers re Maloga Aboriginal school and Mission.
Norman Family. Letters written by Alma Janet Norman (nee Matthews) at Manunka Mission, 1911.
Woolmer, George. Mununka (i.e. Manunka) Mission, River Murray, South Australia, 198-?
Dunjiba Community Oodnadatta Oral History Project, 1991-1992.
George, Karen. Finding your own way : a guide to records of children's homes in South Australia, Ch. 8, 2005.
Gerard, A.E. United Aborigines' Mission (of Australia): an outline of the history of the mission particularly in South Australia, 1950
Kramer Metters, Faith and Schroeder, Elva. Outback evangelist : the story of Ernest Kramer, 2008.
McInerney, Kunyi June Anne. Kunyi, 2021.
Shaw, Bruce. Invasion and succession: an aboriginal history of the Oodnadatta region, 1988.
Survival in our own land : 'Aboriginal' experiences in 'South Australia' since 1836, Ch. 25 ‘United Aborigines Mission and Oodnadatta’.
Turner, Violet E. Lazarus at the gate, 1937.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.) Annual report of United Aborigines' Mission, 1939-1973, incomplete. (This has been indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue.)
The Ooldea Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission in 1933 at Ooldea Soak. It was incorporated into a government reserve in 1938 and a children's dormitory was opened. In 1952 the Mission and the Dormitory closed down. All residents were moved to the government reserve and Lutheran Mission at Yalata. Read more at Find and Connect.
Brady, Maggie and Palmer, Kingsley 'Dependency and assertiveness: three waves of Christianity among Pitjantjatjara people at Ooldea and Yalata' in Swain, Tony and Rose, Deborah Bird (eds).
Eckermann, C. V. Koonibba : the Mission and the Nunga people, 2010. (Includes an appendix on the missions at Ooldea and Yalata.)
Gerard, A.E. United Aborigines' Mission (of Australia): an outline of the history of the mission particularly in South Australia, 1950.
Survival in our own land : 'Aboriginal' experiences in 'South Australia' since 1836, Ch. 29 ‘Ooldea and Yalata’.
Turner, V. E. Ooldea, 1950.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.). A gateway to Heaven: impressions of Ooldea, 1946.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.) Annual report of United Aborigines' Mission, and Aborigine News, 1939-1973, incomplete. (This has been indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue)
Wangka tjunajyi. Community newsletter produced at Yalata Mission.
The Library holds Guide to records of Indigenous Australians in the Lutheran Archives, Adelaide, SA which contains name indexes for various registers and files relating to the Yalata Lutheran mission.
Aboriginal Progress Association. Includes references to conditions at the Davenport Reserve in the 1960s.
Annual report of the Aborigines' Friends' Association, (This has been partially indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue.)
Annual report of the Umeewarra Mission, Port Augusta, South Australia.
Austin, Emily Munyungka. My young days, 2006.
Find and Connect. Umeewarra Mission Children's Home.
Find and Connect. Umeewarra Mission Home, Davenport Reserve.
From the desert to the lakes : four South Australian Aboriginal memoirs, 2018.
Laurie Bryan. Including some relating to the Davenport Reserve.
McWilliams, Alan. Umeewarra : 36 years of learning, friendship and adventure with the children of Umeewarra Mission at Port Augusta, 2006.
Moisseeff, Marika. An Aboriginal village in South Australia : a snapshot of Davenport, 1999.
Richards, Ian. 'On the fringe' in The Advertiser, 7 August 1982, p. 24.
Strangways, Brian. You have to survive somehow, 2011.
Survival in our own land : 'Aboriginal' experiences in 'South Australia' since 1836, Ch. 30 ‘Umeewarra’.
United Aborigines Mission (S. Aust.) Annual report of United Aborigines' Mission, and Aborigine News, 1939-1973, incomplete. (This has been indexed, to see records enter the title in the source field of the Library catalogue)
Wungudda. (Newsletter of the Davenport Reserve)