113 Address correspondence to Ian D. Clark, Business Faculty, Federation University Australia, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria 3353, Australia. Tel: (03) 5327 9436; Fax: (03) 5327 9405; E-mail: i.clark@federation.edu.au Tourism, Culture & Communication, Vol. 13, pp. 113–123 1098-304X/14 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/109830413X13848886455272 Copyright © 2014 Cognizant Comm. Corp. E-ISSN 1943-4146 www.cognizantcommunication.com TOURIST VISITATION TO EBENEZER ABORIGINAL MISSION STATION, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, 1859–1904: A CASE STUDY IAN D. CLARK* AND EVA MCRAE-WILLIAMS† *Business Faculty, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Australia †Division of Research, Teaching & Learning, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Batchelor, Australia This article investigates the phenomenon of tourist visitation to an Aboriginal Mission Station in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, during its operation from 1859 to 1904. It provides an over- view of the history of tourism to Aboriginal missions in Victoria and presents the first detailed study of tourism to the Ebenezer Mission site. It shows that in contrast with other mission stations in Victoria, where tourism was encouraged, the Moravian missionaries discouraged visitation and deliberately selected a remote location in northwest Victoria to ensure their isolation. Nevertheless, a limited number of visitors were welcomed on to the station and their accounts are presented in this case study. Key words: Indigenous tourism; Aboriginal missions; Ebenezer; Moravian missionaries Today, the mission site is a small fenced section of land less than 1 hectare in size, containing the ren- ovated remains of a limestone chapel, an adjoin- ing cemetery, a schoolhouse, and a small cottage. In terms of contemporary tourism visitation, it is open to the general public; however, there is no active Aboriginal presence at the site. The focus of this article is the phenomenon of visitation to Ebenezer Mission during the 19th century. Before considering visitation at the Moravian mission, some historical overview is necessary, firstly of the Moravian missionary activity in Victoria, and secondly of Aboriginal mission tourism in Victoria in the 19th century. Introduction Ebenezer Mission is situated at Antwerp within the Hindmarsh Shire, some 400 km from Mel- bourne, in northwest Victoria, Australia. It was a functioning Moravian Aboriginal mission sta- tion from 1859 until dwindling numbers led to its closure in 1904 when it was handed back to the Victorian Lands Department (see Christie, 1979; Jensz, 2010; Kenny, 2007; Massola, 1969, 1970) (see Fig. 1). The site was under the care of the National Trust from 1961 until 1991 when it was handed over to the Goolum Goolum Aborigi- nal Cooperative based in Horsham (Fels, 1998).