Hull River Aboriginal Settlement

Former settlement in Queensland, Australia

Hull River Aboriginal Settlement, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Hull River Aboriginal Mission, was an Aboriginal reserve established in 1914, located at the present location of Mission Beach in the Hull River National Park, Queensland, Australia. Built on the land of the Djiru people, Aboriginal people from surrounding areas were brought there for their "protection" as well as disciplinary reasons, creating a population of up to 400 residents. The settlement was destroyed by a huge cyclone in 1918, and surviving residents were transferred to the new settlement at Great Palm Island.

The Dyirbal speaking Djiru Aboriginal people who inhabited this island coast were linguistically, culturally and socially related to the Dyirbal, Girramay and Gulngay groups of the Tully River and Murray River districts. Contact with early navigators and coastal surveyors as well as with beche de mer fishing boats was established long before the first white people settled the beach areas in 1882. Timber cutters also camped on the beaches during their expeditions and occasionally utilised Aboriginal labour in return for tobacco or tools. The new reserve was intended to solve the social problems caused by the new settlers and clash of cultures, although by the time the settlement opened, many of the Djiru people had moved away and there was probably only about a fifth of the original population in the area. Records show that 37 people were killed in Innisfail itself and a further 40 60 people killed in the surrounding area. It is likely that many more people were killed at the time. Record keeping was sketchy and it is possible that well over 100 people were killed, making it the worst natural disaster in Australian history.

A rescue party set out on the Innisfail from Townsville, reaching Dunk Island a few days later. They battled their way through the damaged vegetation and swollen rivers to get to the dead and injured people. The Mrs. Kenny, pregnant at the time, was injured and sent to Townsville, but the Government Medical Officer only arrived on March 31. The survivors who stayed at the Settlement salvaged what food they could.

After the settlement area was abandoned, white settlers slowly moved in, with a town being surveyed in 1938. Initially named Kenny, it was officially renamed as South Mission Beach in 1967. The Mija Memorial, commemorating the victims of the cyclone, was unveiled 100 years later, on 10 March 2018.