Jessie Lloyd’s profoundly moving Mission Songs Project reveals the daily life of Australian Aboriginal people on the missions, settlements and reserves during the Missions Era of 1901 to 1967. A musical time travel of original compositions from the residents over multiple generations.

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Mission Songs Project explores the human reality when Aboriginal people were forcibly removed from their homelands and moved onto managed lands, either as inmates or wards of the state. In a time of great distress, these truthful songs are surprisingly filled with optimism and hope, revealing a forgotten story on an unexplored corner of Australian history.

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Mission Songs Project faithfully navigates the musical journey of Aboriginal music and connects the traditional with contemporary, revealing the continuation of cultural practice and song traditions into the 21st Century. This is a musical journey through time and place, this is our songlines.