Remembering Mona Mona

Operating from 1913 to 1962, Mona Mona Mission was a Seventh-day Adventist institution for Indigenous Australians in the Cairns hinterland in northern Queensland. Although unique both in its affiliation with the Adventist Church and among the church’s institutions, Mona Mona was part of a government system that sought to regulate and control most aspects of the lives of Australia’s First Peoples in that era.

Based on interviews with past Mona Mona residents and staff, along with historical records and research, Remembering Mona Mona brings together contributions from historians and researchers to explore the diverse experiences of Mona Mona’s residents, as well as the intent and struggles of the missionaries, who were usually well-intentioned, chronically under-resourced, and very much a product of their times and beliefs.