Mission Songs Project

Jessie Lloyd’s profoundly moving and important Mission Songs Project reveals what daily was like for Indigenous Australians on Christian missions and state-run settlements. Through the discovery of rare secular songs that were sung after church, audiences can gain a deeper understanding about the history of elders, families and communities, from cultural identity to love and loss.

Mission Songs Project is an initiative to revive contemporary Australian Indigenous songs from 1900 to 1999, focusing on the Christian missions, state run settlements and native camps where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were relocated.

Searching for the secular songs that were sung after church, Mission Songs Project looks to explore the day to day life of the mission days, from cultural identity to love and loss. These unique songs consist of almost forgotten stories that can now shed light into the history of our Indigenous elders, families and communities.

An award winning composer, performer and creative entrepreneur, Jessie Lloyd is a cultural practitioner of Indigenous music and song. Dedicated to the continuation of story and song through the performance of Indigenous music, Jessie has travelled Australia in search of hidden songs to present this rare and unique Indigenous narrative.