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On missions as places of survival

FTLOG Interviews

John Briggs insists on the benefits some missionaries brought to Aboriginal people.

Transcript

I think all missions were a place of survival. Now for instance Kalumburu, up in the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome, was a – I don’t know if you’ve ever been there but that church is something to see. I think the monks, some monks went there first and that was a place where they settled and people came from everywhere to be a part of that community, and that was even before they took that to Broome. Every time I look at a place like that or even our, you know, even our area, I think the missionaries was a drawcard for people to go – for a few things. Education, health, wellbeing, all those types of things I think was really good from them.