LCA Archives help Indigenous families

A recently released publication will help Aboriginal people from Lutheran missions to research their family history.

The 486-page book, A Guide to the Records of Indigenous Australians in the Lutheran Archives, was launched 28 June 1999 at the Art Gallery of South Australia and is now being distributed to Aboriginal communities and libraries throughout Australia.

Almost thirteen thousand names are listed in an index which directs the reader to information that can be found in Lutheran church registers and files. This information mainly covers details of births, parents, marriages and deaths.

The index refers to the records of Lutheran Church missions in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland which are now held by the Lutheran Archives in North Adelaide.

The book is the result of a cooperative effort by the Archives Working Group of the Cultural Ministers Council and the archivist and staff of Lutheran Archives. Its publication was made possible by the generous support of the Australian Council of Archives.

LCA archivist, Lyall Kupke, said that Lutheran Archives is the first non-government organisation in Australia to publish such an index. It is hoped that the publication will be a model for other organisations that hold Indigenous records and will encourage them to open their records to access by Indigenous Australians.

Lyall said that in recent years he has received an increasing number of requests from Aboriginal people for information about their family histories. In particular, younger people aged between 20 and 40 are searching for information.

The Guide is available at no cost from the Lutheran Archives – contact details via their website: Contact – Lutheran Archives