Hopevale, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  is an Aboriginal community on Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 about 46 km northwest of Cooktown

Cooktown, Queensland

Cooktown is a small town located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. At the 2006 census, Cooktown had a population of 1,336...

 by road, and about 10 km off the Battlecamp Road that leads to Lakefield National Park

Lakefield National Park

Lakefield is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,707 km northwest of Brisbane and 340 km north-west of Cairns by road, on Cape York Peninsula. At 5,370 km2 Lakefield is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,707 km northwest of Brisbane and 340 km north-west of...

 and Laura

Laura, Queensland

Laura is a small town north of Lakeland in Cook Shire, Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, Australia. It is on the only road north towards the tip of the peninsula, and is the centre for the largest collection of prehistoric rock art in the world. It also forms the northern apex of the...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Hopevale had a population of 765.

Early Mission Station

It was established as the Cape Bedford Mission by the Johann Flierl

Johann Flierl

Johann Flierl , was a pioneer Lutheran missionary in New Guinea. He established mission schools and organized the construction of roads and communication between otherwise remote interior locations. Under his leadership, Lutheran evangelicalism flourished in New Guinea...

, a missionary of the Lutheran Church in 1886, with the settlement at Elim on the beach.

Due to worries that the Aboriginal people might cooperate with the advancing Japanese in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the total population was evacuated south to various communities by the military. The German Lutheran missionaries were sent to internment camps. Most of the people were sent to Woorabinda

Woorabinda, Queensland

Woorabinda is an Aboriginal community in central Queensland, Australia, inland of Rockhampton. At the 2006 census, Woorabinda had a population of 851.Woorabinda was first established in 1927 as a replacement for the Aboriginal camp at Taroom...

, near Rockhampton

Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....

, in Queensland. In just one month, 28 people lost their lives, with nearly a quarter of the people dying over the next 8 years.

Hope Vale was re-established as a Lutheran Mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

 in September 1949. Aboriginal people from the Hope Valley and Cape Bedford Missions settled there. A work crew was allowed to return in 1949 and the first families came home in 1950.

Hopevale is no longer run as a mission by the church, but by its own elected Community Council. In 1986 it received a "Deed of Grant in Trust" (or "DOGIT") which "granted title to 110 000 ha of land which was previously Aboriginal Reserve Land held by the Under Secretary as trustee, to the Community Council to act as trustees of the land for the benefit of the residents." The Aboriginal Land Act 1991 (Qld) transferred into Indigenous ownership all previous reserve land under DOGIT (Deed of Grant in Trust) titles.

"The Warra people of the Hopevale Community of Eastern Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 in Queensland received acknowledgment of their native title rights in December 1997. The determination recognised rights of exclusive possession, occupation use and enjoyment over 110,000 ha. (Native Title Determination, Warra Peoples, Hope Vale Community of Cape York (NNTT ref# QC96/15))"

Hopevale is home to several clan groups who mostly speak Guugu Yimidhirr and other related languages, as well as English.

Due to a lack of reliable water supplies at Elim

Elim Aboriginal Mission, Queensland

Elim Aboriginal Mission, Queensland was an Aboriginal mission in Queensland, Australia.This mission was established in 1885 on the north shore at Cape Bedford near Cooktown in Queensland. While it initially flourished, Elim's future became grim and the people were relocated to Hope Vale...

, the community was shifted about 20 km inland to its present site.

Notable former residents of Hopevale are Queensland rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player Matt Bowen

Matt Bowen

Matthew Jeremy "Matt" Bowen is an Australian rugby league player. He has spent his whole professional career with the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League , playing in over 200 matches and holding the club's record for the player with the most NRL appearances. He appeared in the...

 and lawyer and activist Noel Pearson. Pearson has criticised the level of violence in the community.

On 21 July 2008 the Hope Vale community opened the Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Centre (IKTC), in the Jack Bambie building. This centre provides a library service, training venue and public Internet access.

The Hope Vale community has a strong choral singing tradition since its evacuation to Woorabinda. The ensemble has performed at the Queensland Music Festival

Queensland Music Festival

The Queensland Music Festival is a series of musical events staged in a number of locations in Queensland, Australia usually around late July, every second year. It is financially supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and a wide range of other partners...

 on three separate occasions in 2005, 2007 and most recently on 1 August 2009. In April 2004 - 2005 the choir also toured for four days, visiting tourist resorts, churches, and correctional and rehabilitation facilities. The tour was made possible by the Queensland Arts Council Quick Response Grant and received coverage on ABC Radio Cairns on the Pat Morrish 'Morning Show'.

Further reading, listening and viewing

• Aboriginal Co-Ordinating Council Media Facility. 2002. The Woorabinda Story: 7 Years in Exile.
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Cairns. 20 April 2005. The Morning Show with Pat Morrish. Radio Broadcast.
• Bambie, Herman (Interviewer Deborah Somersall) (ed). 2000. Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. Hope Vale, 26 October, Oral History, TRC 5000/ 204.
• Bennett, Judy and Gordon, Wilfred. 2007. ‘Social Capital and the Indigenous Tourism Entrepreneur’. In: J. Buultjens and D. Fuller (eds) Striving for Sustainability: Case Studies in Indigenous Tourism, pp. 333-70. Lismore, NSW, Australia: Southern Cross University Press.
• Brad, Jen. 1994. Milbi Thagaalbigu Balgaayga (A Story from a Long Time Ago). Hopevale: Guugu Yimithirr Cultural Centre.
• Callaghan, Margie, editor. Mangal-Bungal Clever with Hands: Baskets and stories woven by some of the women of Hopevale, Cape York Peninsula. Hopevale Community Learning Centre Aboriginal Corporation. ISBN 978-0-646-46701-6
• Costello, Michael (Interviewer David Woodgate) (ed) (2000) Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. Hope Vale, 26 October, Oral History, TRC 5000/ 187.
• Deeral, Eric no date. Lest we Forget: Home at Last. Hopevale: Guugu Yimithirr Cultural Centre.
• Dekker, John. 8 June 1970. Guugu-Yimidhirr Words of Life (1). Global Recordings: catalogue number C16750, CD.
• Dekker, John. 8 June 1970. Guugu-Yimidhirr Words of Life (2). Global Recordings: catalogue number C16751, CD.
• Evans, Kay E. 1972. ‘Marie Yamba, Bloomfield and Hope Vale: The Lutheran Missions to the North Queensland Aborigines, 1886-1905’ Queensland Heritage 2.6:26-35.
• Gordon, Tulo and Haviland, John. 1980. "Milbi: Aboriginal Tales from Queensland's Endeavour River. Canberra: Australian National University Press.
• Gordon, Wilfred and Bennett, Judy (July 2007 first print no copyright) Guurbi: My Special Place.
• Grope, L. B. and Roennfeldt, Ivan. 1977. From Despair to Hope: A Brief Survey of the Hope Vale Mission from Its Establishment to the Present. Hope Vale: Hope Vale Mission.
• Hart, Roger (Interviewer David Woodgate) (ed). 2000. Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. Hope Vale, 26 October, Oral History, TRC 5000/193.
• Haviland, John and Haviland, Leslie. 1980. '"How much Food will there be in Heaven?” Lutherans and Aborigines around Cooktown to 1900.' Aboriginal History 4.2:118-49.
• Haviland, John Beard. 1985. ‘The Life History of a Speech Community: Guugu Yimidhirr at Hopevale’ Aboriginal History 9.2/1:170-209.
• Haviland, John Beard. 1988. Guugu Yimithirr Word List. Reed College.
• Haviland, John B. 1990. "’That was the Last Time I Seen Them, and No More”: Voices Through Time in Australian Aboriginal Autobiography’. American Ethnology 18.2: 331-61.
• Haviland, John B., with Hart, Roger. 1998. Old Man Fog and the Last Aborigines of Barrow Point. Crawford House Publishing, Bathurst. ISBN 1-86333-169-7.
• Jack, Walter (Interviewer David Woodgate) (ed). 2000. Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. Hope Vale, 26 October, Oral History, TRC 5000/192.
• Kernich, E.C. 1958. ‘Hopevale Mission: Church Dedication’. The Lutheran Herald, 12 July, pp 204-05.
• Lohe, Paul. 1977. ‘Focus on Hopevale’. The Lutheran 11.16:14-15.
• Loos, Noel A. 1975. ‘A Conflict of Faiths: Aboriginal Reaction to the First Missionaries in North Queensland’ in Noel Loos (ed) Lectures on North Queensland History: Second Series, pp. 47-55. Townsville: James Cook University of North Queensland.
• McIvor, Roy (2010). Cockatoo: My Life in Cape York. Stories and Art. Roy McIvor. Magabala Books. Broome, Western Australia. ISBN 978-1-921248-22-1.
• Pearson, Noel. 2009. Up from the mission. Selected writings Melbourne: Black Inc. ISBN: 9781863954280 (pbk.)
• Pearson, Noel. 1986. "Ngamu-ngaadyarr, Muuri-bunggaga and Midha Mini". In: Guugu Yimidhirr History (Dingoes, Sheep and Mr Muni in Guugu Yimidhirr History). Hope Vale Lutheran Mission 1900-1950. Unpublished BA Dissertation, History Department University of Sydney, Australia.
• Powell, Fiona. 2002. ‘Transformations in Guugu Yimithirr Kinship Terminology’. Anthropological Forum 12.2:177-92.
• Roennfeldt, I.L. 1959. ‘Board Members go North’. The Lutheran Herald, 24 October. p.319.
• Rose, Gordon. 1978. ‘The Heart of a Man: A Biography of Missionary G.H. Schwarz’. Yearbook of the Lutheran Church of Australia, pp. 26-68.
• Rosendale, George, trans. 1986. Gunbu Guugu Yimithirrbi. Hopevale: Hopevale Lutheran Congregation.
• Rosendale, Len (Interviewer David Woodgate) (ed). 2000. Bringing Them Home Oral History Project. Hope Vale, 25 October, Oral History, TRC 5000/194.
• Roth, Walter E. 1909. "On Certain Initiation ceremonies". North Queensland Ethnography 12:166-85.
• Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Muriel E. 2011.‘Research Ethics, Positive and Negative Impact and working in an Indigenous Australian Context’ in Ethnomusicology Forum, 20(2), pp. 255-262. (Refers to fieldwork undertaken in Hopevale)DOI: 10.1080/17411912.2011.596655.
• Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Muriel E. 2010. ‘Applied Ethnomusicology, Music Therapy and Ethnographically Informed Choral Education: The Merging of Disciplines during a Case Study in Hopevale, Northern Queensland’ in Applied Ethnomusicology: Historical and Contemporary Approaches, Klisala Harrison, Elizabeth Mackinlay, Svanibor Pettan (eds) Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 51 – 75. ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-2425-5.
• Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Muriel E. 2008. "Choral singing and the construction of Australian Aboriginal Identities: an applied ethnomusicological study in Hopevale, Northern Queensland, Australia." Unpublished thesis. School of Arts, Roehampton University, University of Surrey, London, UK.
• Thompson, Rev. David (ed). 2004. Milbi Dabaar: A Resource Book. Cairns: Wontulp-Bi-Buya College.
• de Zwaan, Jan D. 1966. George Bowen, and McIvor, Paddy and Jacko, Billy and Gibson, Archie and Wilson, Baru and Mulgal, Maud, and Gordon, Mary Jane. Lexical and Grammatical Elicitation of Gugu Yimidhirr and Songs. Hope Vale, Field Recording: Language Elicitation and Songs, Archive AIATSIS 01085.
• de Zwaan, Jan D. 1969. "The Preliminary Analysis of Gogo-Yimidjir: A Study of the Structure of the Primary Dialect of the Aboriginal Language Spoken at the Hopevale Mission in North Queensland." Australian Aboriginal Studies 16.5

External links

• (Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council website).
• Queensland Stories - Hope Vale Water http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au/logicrouter/servlet/LogicRouter?PAGE=object&OUTPUTXSL=object_enc36ui.xslt&pm_RC=REPOMODS01&pm_OI=169&pm_GT=Y&pm_IAC=Y&api_1=GET_OBJECT_XML&num_result=0
• Queensland Stories - Hope Vale's War http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au/logicrouter/servlet/LogicRouter?PAGE=object&OUTPUTXSL=object_enc36ui.xslt&pm_RC=REPOMODS01&pm_OI=168&pm_GT=Y&pm_IAC=Y&api_1=GET_OBJECT_XML&num_result=1
• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council