Also known as Point Pierce, it was one of several missions established in South Australia in the late 19th century, which included
Poonindie (1850),
Point McLeay (Raukkan, 1850),
Killalpaninna (1866) and
Koonibba (1898). Some of these missions were the basis for Aboriginal communities which persist until the present; they were among the few places in the southern part of South Australia where dispossessed and displaced Aboriginal people were welcomed, even if the primary aim was
Christian evangelism. Soon after the establishment of
Adelaide in 1836, settlers had begun moving into
Yorke Peninsula. The British concepts of property ownership were incompatible with the
Narunggas' nomadic lifestyle, resulting in the gradual displacement of the Aboriginal population. In 1868, the Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission was established by the
Moravian missionary Reverend W. Julius Kuhn. A site of for a settlement was granted on 2 February 1868 at a place known as Bookooyanna (spelt Bukkiyana or Burgiyana in later sources), about south of
Kadina. In 1874 the reserve was extended by another , and including
Wardang Island. on 1913, the
South Australian government took over management of the mission in 1915 and it became known as the Point Pearce Aboriginal Station, an
Aboriginal reserve. Included in the recommendations was that the government become the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children upon reaching their 10th birthday, and place them "where they deem best". Seven years after the final report of the commission, the
Aborigines (Training of Children) Act 1923, in order to allow
Indigenous children to be "trained" in a special institution so that they could go out and work. The institution is named in the
Bringing Them Home report, as one which housed
Indigenous children forcibly removed from their parents and thus creating the
Stolen Generations. In 1972, ownership was transferred to the Point Pearce Community Council under the
Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966. Many of the buildings remain today. ==Location and facilities==