Gerard Community Council
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Gerard Community (Aboriginal Community) |
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 Location of the Gerard Community in South Australia |
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| structure | |
| State : |
 Australia
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| State : |
 South Australia
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| Administrative headquarters: | Gerard |
| Dates and numbers | |
| Area : | 85.9 km² |
| Residents : | 39 (2016) |
| Population density : | 0.5 inhabitants per km² |
Coordinates: 34 ° 23 ′ S , 140 ° 29 ′ E The Gerard Community Council is a local administrative area (LGA) in the Australian state of South Australia and has the special status of an Aboriginal community. The area is almost 86 km². The population fluctuates and was around 40 people in 2016 (2016).
location
Gerard is the only one of the Aboriginal self-administered communities located in the middle of the regular LGAs in the southeast of the state. It is located in the southwest of the Berri Barmera Council on the Murray River and borders Loxton Waikerie . The area around the settlement of Gerard is about twelve kilometers northwest of Loxton and 185 kilometers northeast of Adelaide .
history
In 1925 the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) founded an Aboriginal mission station on the Murray River near Swan Reach . But both the location and the local conditions were so difficult that the decision was made to move. In 1945 a 2348 hectare area was bought upstream about 80 km as the crow flies west of the old location and the Gerard Mission was founded. It is named after the then President of UAM in South Australia. In addition to the Swan Reach Aborigines, some natives from Ooldea in the outback in the west of the state also moved there.
As early as 1946, the residents of the community founded a council and had the opportunity to decide on their own social affairs. In 1961 the mission was handed over to the state and was then under the supervision of a government official. In 1996, the Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT) was brought into being with a law , to which the Gerard Reserve was assigned in 1974 and thus made the responsibility of the indigenous people. The Gerard Community Council took over administration of the area and in 1994 it became one of five Local Government Areas with special status under the South Australian Local Government Grants Act .
economy
The location on the river allows irrigation and agricultural use of the land. From 1946, attempts were made to secure self-sufficiency with vines, later with citrus fruits and stone fruits, as well as with sheep and cattle. Outside of the community, the Aborigines found little work. Today, traditional items from the Aboriginal culture are also made in Gerard for sale to tourists.
Web links
- Aboriginal missions on the River Murray (English)
- Gerard Community at the Aboriginal Lands Trust (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Gerard (State Suburb) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ↑ MESA Journal 46, September 2007 (English; PDF, 124 kB) ( Memento from August 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Homes run by the UAM, page 8 (PDF; 401 kB)
- ^ Parliamentary report on the Pitjantjatjara land rights ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), going to press June 2, 2004, footnote 310, page 72