Pastor Dudley VaughanPrint Page

The Vaughan Seventh-day Adventist Memorial Chapel commemorates Pastor Dudley Vaughan, Karalundi's founder.  He is also a recipient of the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to Aboriginal people.

Karalundi came into existence in 1954 as an Aboriginal boarding school run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Western Australia. It was begun after its founder Pastor Dudley Vaughan was challenged to begin such a work by Avy Curley. The property is some 55 kilometres north of Meekatharra.

The school served the Murchison, Upper Gascoyne, Pilbara and Western Desert regions. Classes began in September 1954, with a focus on literacy, numeracy and practical skills.

During its early years of operation, Karalundi was rated by the WA Department of Education as a "most efficient establishment" and commended for the "relatively high standard of attainment" by students. Karalundi was closed in September 1974 in a government move to phase out church involvement in indigenous affairs. The property was sold into private hands and operated as a farm-stay enterprise for 12 years.

In the early 1980s, many past students came to recognise that under the state system, their children's education was inferior to their own. These parents, in the spirit of self-determination, lobbied the state government for Karalundi to reopen as an independent parent-controlled Christian Aboriginal boarding school, where children would be educated away from the problems associated with alcohol abuse and gain an education focusing on practical life skills, as well as literacy and numeracy. The advocacy group was supported by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and, in August 1986, Karalundi was reopened.

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