Hopevale
Postcode: 4895
Hopevale, (or Hope Vale), Queensland, Australia is an Aboriginal community on Cape York Peninsula about 46 km west of Cooktown, and about 10 km off the Battlecamp Road that leads to Lakefield National Park and Laura. The population (in 2005) was approximately 1,200.
It was established as the Cape Bedford Mission by the Lutheran Church in 1886, with the settlement at Elim on the beach.
Due to worries that the Aboriginal people might cooperate with the advancing Japanese in World War II, the total population was evacuated south to various communities by the military. The German Lutheran missionaries were sent to internment camps. Most of the people were sent to Woorabinda, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. In just one month, 28 people lost their lives, with nearly a quarter of the people dying over the next 8 years.
Hope Vale was established as a Lutheran Mission in September, 1949. Aboriginal people from the Hope Valley and Cape Bedford Missions were settled there. A work crew was allowed to return in 1949 and the first families came home in 1950.
Hopevale is home to several clan groups who mostly speak Guugu Yimidhirr and other related languages, as well as English.
Hopevale Living Waters Church is one of the first churches planted by Living Waters Ministries. We believe God has a plan for everyone, whether in a big city or out on the farm. We encourage everyone in the Cooktown & greater areas to get along to a service.