| Karalundi Mission |
| Years of Operation | 1954 – 1974 |
| Sponsoring Agency | Seventh Day Adventist Church.
There is information about Seventh Day Adventist Archives, including some information about sites where information on missions can be found, at “Mundus – the Gateway to Missionary Collections in the UK” at http://www.mundus.ac.uk (Australia is mentioned). This site holds the following quote:
“The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has its origins in the 1840s in Maine, USA, inspired by the millenarianist teachings of William Miller (1782-1849), along with the interpretations of the prophetess Ellen Gould Harmon White (1827-1915). It was established formally in 1863. From the start, the SDA movement had a strong missionary aspect, prompted by White's vision of a "stream of light to encompass the globe". Her own work in Europe and Australia helped to inspire Adventist missionary endeavour, so that the SDA Church rapidly became established worldwide. This aspect, along with the reorganization of the Church's administrative structure in 1901-1903, effectively turned the SDA General Conference into a churchwide missionary society. The SDA Church's missionary work has traditionally had an educational and medical emphasis.” |
Other facilities in
Signposts that are
related to the
Sponsoring Agency | See the entry “Seventh Day Adventists” in the earlier section of Signposts, “Non-Government Agencies and their Subsidiary Institutions” |
| Address(es) | Great Northern Highway, 60 kilometres north of Meekatharra |
| Brief History | The Aboriginal Independent Community Schools website (www.aics.wa.edu.au ) records the Karalundi Aboriginal Education Centre as a successor to the Karlundi Mission:
“Karalundi is an independent parent controlled school, incorporated in 1986. An Executive Committee of 15 members (elected at an Annual General Meeting) is responsible for the yearly operation of Karalundi, for hiring of staff and faculty and for long term planning. The parents who operate the school are largely ex-Karalundi students. They are Seventh-Day Adventist, and require that Karalundi be operated with the ethos of the Seventh-Day Adventist faith. All staff are required to exhibit exemplary Christian standards before the students, are not to smoke or drink, must exhibit moral behaviour above reproach and support the religious program of the Community which of course entails Friday evening and Saturday program of meetings….
The facilities at Karalundi were originally built as a Seventh-Day Adventist Mission which operated until 1974.”
Karalundi catered for “61 primary school students” when surveyed in 1971. At that time, Karalundi was “operated by the Western Australian Conference of Seventh Day Adventists”. (Wilson and Robinson (1971) Aboriginal Hostels in Perth: A Comparative Survey).
The Annual Reports of the Department for Community Welfare record that Karalundi received Mission Grants in Aid 1973 to extend and upgrade the water supply and in 1974 for improvements to dormitories, general improvements and a new power plant. |
| Records | According to the The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies website, the State Records Office in Western Australia “holds extensive records relating to missions.” Contact details are below.
Departmental records for children placed by the Department of Community Welfare or the Department of Native Welfare may exist.
Additionally, the Department for Child Protection’s Aboriginal Index and the guide, “Looking West”, should be consulted for information. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | Freedom of Information
Department of Communities
Locked Bag 5000, Fremantle WA 6959
Telephone: (08) 6217 6888
Country free call: 1800 176 888
Email: foi@communities.wa.gov.au
Website: www.communities.wa.gov.au
For general information relating to missions:
State Records Office, Alexander Library Building
James St West Entrance
Perth WA 6000.
Search Centre: GroundFloor Mon-Fri:9.30am-4.30pm
Telephone: (08) 9427 3360
Facsimile: (08) 9427 3368
Email: sro@sro.wa.gov.au |
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