Paper short abstract:

This research explores the historical spaces of 'Missions' in Australia, with a focus on the Milingimbi Methodist Mission in Northeast Arnhem Land during the early years of the 20th century. The aim of such analysis is to draw attention to other histories not overtly heard within the archives.

Paper long abstract:

In much of historical and anthropological scholarship the role of 'missions' in Australian Aboriginal history remains under researched. Consequently in discourse, these mission spaces are often represented as homogenised and bounded entities, reduced to fit the archetypal evil of the colonising agenda. Missions, however were complex spaces of belonging, where sustained and intimate cross-cultural contact provided valuable material for intercultural analysis, especially gender-inflected. I therefore contend the dynamics and practices of the actors involved with missions during the early 20th century need further attention. This research presents an historical anthropological analysis, with a particular focus on the interactions, which occurred on the Milingimbi Methodist Mission in Northeast Arnhem Land during the interwar years. It draws across the breadth of archival material that was produced from these spaces. This includes material recorded by missionaries, anthropologists, and memoirs of descendants. Close attention across such records I argue will provide access into nuances relating to temporality and inter-subjectivities, discursive processes and material practices. The aim of such analysis is to draw attention to other histories not overtly heard within the archives. In doing so will also extend the existing literature outlining the complexity of Australia's settler-colonial past.