Menindee Aboriginal Mission

In September 1933, The Aboriginal Protection Board moved 250 or so Ngiyampaa people from the Carowra Tank mission to Menindee by truck and train.

This same year saw the establishment of the Menindee Aboriginal Station on a site of 400 hectares on the Darling 11 km from Menindee. The population of this “Mission” was made up of Paakantyi people from Menindee, Wilcannia, Pooncarie Reserve and Broken Hill, together with the Ngiyampaa people from Carowra Tank.

The Aboriginal people there were shocked because the Mission had been built on a burial site. They were forced to live in confined spaces, sharing huts with as many as 13 people, and denied basic necessities such as a bathroom and fresh water. This in turn created health problems, such as the 1937 outbreak of tuberculosis.

By the late 1940s conditions at Menindee Mission were a well-known scandal and in 1949 it was closed. The people were given the choice of going to new “model housing” at Murrin Bridge or staying on in Menindee.

Ngiyampaa people had been gathering around Carowra Tank, between Ivanhoe and Cobar, since about 1908. In 1926 the NSW Government set up a mission station there.
Ngiyampaa people had been gathering around Carowra Tank, between Ivanhoe and Cobar, since about 1908. In 1926 the NSW Government set up a mission station there.
Gidgett Williams and Ned Rogers stand on the corner of the Dunthoo and Parrpoi streets, Carowra Tank, October 1929. The signs mean Swan and Rock Wallaby Streets in Ngiyampaa.
Gidgett Williams and Ned Rogers stand on the corner of the Dunthoo and Parrpoi streets, Carowra Tank, October 1929. The signs mean Swan and Rock Wallaby Streets in Ngiyampaa.
Menindee Mission, 1935, (left to right) Albert Shepherd, Geordie Murray, Leslie Shepherd. Geordie always preferred to camp on the riverbend rather than in one of the government's “houses”.
Menindee Mission, 1935, (left to right) Albert Shepherd, Geordie Murray, Leslie Shepherd. Geordie always preferred to camp on the riverbend rather than in one of the government’s “houses”.
Menindee Mission in its very early days, January 1934. The large population afterwards suffered a serious decline as disease ran through the community.
Menindee Mission in its very early days, January 1934. The large population afterwards suffered a serious decline as disease ran through the community.

Menindee Mission was of course not a Christian mission, but a Government Aboriginal Station. Aboriginal people tend to call all government housing a “mission”, so we get the Wilcannia Mission, which is actually a Reserve.

A bush nurse is showing off a new baby among among a group of children. The identity of the children is unknown.
A bush nurse is showing off a new baby among among a group of children. The identity of the children is unknown.
Visiting day at Menindee Mission in the 1930s. The Bush Nurse from Menindee, Sister Kessell, is on the left in the hat.
Visiting day at Menindee Mission in the 1930s. The Bush Nurse from Menindee, Sister Kessell, is on the left in the hat.

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The children are gathered in front of the schoolhouse on the Mission. Only the concrete foundations of the schoolhouse are visible today.
The children are gathered in front of the schoolhouse on the Mission. Only the concrete foundations of the schoolhouse are visible today.
The mission manager ran a school for the children on the Mission. These mission schools very rarely achieved over a grade 2 level.
The mission manager ran a school for the children on the Mission. These mission schools very rarely achieved over a grade 2 level.
There aren't any buildings left a Menindee Mission these days or many signs that people were living there for 16 years, as this class from Menindee Central School found when they went out there in 2006.
There aren’t any buildings left a Menindee Mission these days or many signs that people were living there for 16 years, as this class from Menindee Central School found when they went out there in 2006.
From the book Changing times along the Darling, 2009.