“Go as far as you can”: Wongi man and AFL legend Syd Jackson’s message for Bunbury Catholic College students

Wongi man and AFL legend Syd Jackson spoke at the Bunbury Catholic College’s NAIDOC assembly last week, encouraging the private school students to make the most of the opportunities life had afforded them. The Carlton legend, who is part of the Stolen Generation, told the youngsters to use the fortune in their lives to carve a prosperous future for themselves — speaking from a perspective of knowing how tough things can be. Jackson grew up at Roelands Native Mission — now Roelands Village — after being taken off the streets in his hometown of Leonora at four years old. “I remember a truckload of us kids on the back of a truck for about four days travelling from north to south, from Kalgoorlie all the way down through Bunbury to Collie, and then to the place I am at now,” Jackson said during his speech at the assembly. The Mission ran from 1938 to 1973 and housed roughly 600 Aboriginal children who had been forcibly taken from their families. Jackson — who went on to play 240 games for East Perth and Carlton — lived at the Mission until he was 16, where he said children were used as “slave labour” to do chores, feed and tend to the livestock and pick and pack fruit. The 78-year-old has since returned to the Village to live and help with telling its story. Before he won two Hayward Medals with South Bunbury in just 34 games, or two VFL premierships with Carlton, or a fairest and best at East Perth, Jackson began playing football in bare feet at the oval at Roelands. “We were all pretty good footballers there, well we thought we were,” he joked. “There were 20 or 30 kids, right in the centre of the village we had a big oval. “We had one football, we were all barefoot, running around and kicking that football. “I think that helped our skills, there was 20 kids trying to get one football, so you had to get in there and get it somehow.” But despite the glittering heights the AFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century member’s playing career would reach, his upbringing still represents a dark period in Australian history. Jackson never knew his real name or his birthday, and never saw his mother again after being taken along with his two sisters as they were “going into town to get ice creams” in Leonora. The Wongi man and his sisters were separated, each raised in missions run by different religious groups, and were not reconnected for 30 years. Jackson said he was proud to share his story, and encouraged the children to go as far as they can in life. “I think you learn through all that some resilience, survival, and just trying to do the best you can for yourself,” he said. “I think I have done very well, and I am very proud and happy to share that story. “I know you will get a lot more opportunities than I did, so take that with you and go as far as you can.”