Poonindie, South Australia Explained

Poonindie is a small township near Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The township is situated in the historic Country of the Nauo People (an Australian Indigenous community), though it is within the modern governmentally recognised territorial borders of the Barngarla People.

Poonindie Mission was established as a mission for Aboriginal people in South Australia in 1850, at the instigation of the first Archdeacon of Adelaide, Mathew Hale, who also served as superintendent for several years. St Matthew's church, built in 1854-55 and originally intended to be the school, served both the mission and the local community. It survives and remains in use today. Hale ran the Aboriginal Training Institution at the mission.^[7] His friend, the Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide, Augustus Short, visited the mission, which prospered.

The mission closed after 44 years, after which the land was divided and sold, with just St Matthew's and a small area of land remaining the property of the Anglican Church. of land became an Aboriginal reserve when the Mission closed in 1894.^[7] Most of the residents were moved to Point Pearce and Point McLeay missions, while others moved to the nearby Aboriginal reserve,^[8] but a small number of residents remained on the mission site until the 1910s.^[9]

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.^[10] The former reserve is now an Aboriginal self-managed Aboriginal community called Akenta, run by Akenta Incorporated.^{[11] [12]}

Pooonindie Uniting Church lies to the north of the township.^[13]

Heritage listings

Poonindie has a number of sites associated with the former mission listed on the South Australian Heritage Register, including:

• Poonindie Mission Bakehouse Complex and Well^[14]
• Poonindie Mission Superintendent's Residence^[15]
• Poonindie Cemetery^[16]
• Poonindie Mission Schoolhouse^[17]
• St Matthew's Anglican Church^[18]

See also

• Eyre Peninsula bushfire

Other 19th century Aboriginal missions in SA

• Killalpaninna
• Koonibba
• Point McLeay
• Point Pearce

Further reading

• Web site: Aboriginal missions in South Australia: Poonindie . LibGuides at State Library of South Australia . 12 June 2012 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Search result for "Poonindie (Locality Bounded)" (Record no SA0056410) . . 7 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161012010923/http://maps.sa.gov.au/plb/ . 12 October 2016 . dead .
2. Web site: Poonindie, South Australia. Postcodes Australia. 24 June 2016.
3. Web site: Search results for "Poonindie LOCB" with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Counties'. Location SA Map viewer. Government of South Australia. 22 December 2017.
4. Web site: District of Flinders Background Profile. Electoral Commission SA. 9 September 2015.
5. Web site: Federal electoral division of Grey. Australian Electoral Commission. 24 July 2015.
6. Web site: Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics NORTH SHIELDS (PORT LINCOLN AWS) . Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. 23 March 2016.
7. Web site: Poonindie Church . Saint Matthew's Anglican Church Poonindie . 9 February 2020.
8. Web site: Aboriginal missions in South Australia: Poonindie . LibGuides at State Library of South Australia . 12 June 2012 . 8 February 2020.
9. Web site: Poonindie Mission - Summary . Find & Connect . 15 January 2019 . 9 February 2020.
10. Web site: Chapter 8 South Australia . Bringing Them Home . 1995 . 6 March 2020.
11. Web site: Aboriginal Communities. Council of Aboriginal Elders of SA Inc. 6 November 2015.
12. Web site: Poonindie . State Library of South Australia . View of Poonindie with Aboriginal men, women and children in foreground. Akenta, as it is now known is a small township near Port Lincoln. The land belongs to the Barngarla people. The mission has been converted to a small homeland.. photo. 6 February 2020.
13. Web site: Poonindie. Google Maps. 8 February 2020.
14. Web site: Former Bakehouse Complex & Well, former Poonindie Mission . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 11 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160216122743/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=16603 . 16 February 2016 . dead .
15. Web site: Former Superintendent's Residence, former Poonindie Mission . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 11 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160216092141/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=16597 . 16 February 2016 . dead .
16. Web site: Former Poonindie Mission Cemetery . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 11 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160216104743/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=16596 . 16 February 2016 . dead .
17. Web site: Former Schoolhouse (supposed), former Poonindie Mission . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 11 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160216114740/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=16604 . 16 February 2016 . dead .
18. Web site: St Matthew's Anglican Church, former Poonindie Mission . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 11 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160216110503/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=16605. 16 February 2016.