Koonibba was formerly an Aboriginal mission, founded in 1901 by the Lutheran Church on land comprising 16,000 acres (6,500 ha) which they bought in 1899.

Aboriginal people came to the mission seeking employment, for which they were paid, but conversion to Christianity was a pre-condition for wages, food and housing.

[11] After World War I ended in 1918, the mission stopped growing wheat, and started grazing sheep instead, which needed less labour, so people moved away for work.

[10] August Bernhard Carl Hoff was Superintendent of the mission from 1920 to 1930, and between 1920 and 1952 compiled a wordlist which was published by his son Lothar in 2004.

[18] A general store, giving locals access to fresh groceries for the first time in 40 years, was opened in February 2019.

Cultural artefacts as of September 2019[update] stored at the South Australian Museum would be put on display, to engender pride in the community and provide a learning experience for tourists.

[27] Also based on her mother's experiences growing up at Koonibba, Coleman wrote and co-directed a short film (with brother Staurme Glastonbury), Secret Pretty Things (Jija Mooga Gu),[28][29] which was given its world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2020 (preceding the feature documentary The Earth Is Blue as an Orange).

[30] Pastor Hoff's son Lothar (see above) was born at Koonibba Mission, and had inherited his father's collection of photographs and rare Kokatha and Wirangu artefacts after his death in 1971.