|
|
|
|
The short story of the journey from Rockhole, to Old Balgo Mission and finally to Balgo – Kutjungka Catholic Parish a spot chosen by God. From the late1930’ until 1964, the Pallotine Priests and Brothers, with the support and encouragement of the Bishop of Broome, worked with the St John of God Sisters, the Diocesan Sisters, lay volunteers, Aboriginal people from Beagle Bay and the local Kukatja, Walmajarri, and Jaru peoples, to build a Mission centre at Balgo Hills. It served the local people as a buffer against exploitation and discrimination from pastoralists and was a means of remedying health problems, especially Hansen’s disease. The establishment of the mission was a way of introducing Aboriginal people to the Way of Mama Kankarra (God). With nothing but native knowledge and the rough map given them by the Bishop the first missionaries arrived in the middle of the Great Sandy Desert. Gifts were exchanged with the tribal elders – sticks of tobacco, bread and cheese and sweets for both young and old. Their mission had begun. The first missionaries were: Fr Alphonse Bleischwitz, Brother Frank Nissl and Philip Cox. To the Europeans who came to Balgo, the isolation, harsh conditions and the climate made this struggle to build especially difficult, but with the help of local people they struggled to establish a centre of which all were proud. The memories of those who lived there are are remarkably happy ones. In 1965, the Mission was relocated to Wirrumanu, along the Dreaming path of the Luurnpa (Kingfisher). Later Balgo Mission became Kutjungka Parish – One Family Parish.
|
Send mail to the
Webmaster with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
