The extraordinary Aboriginal elder Uncle Jack Charles has died of a stroke at the age of 79.
He had a estremely hard life. He was born in the Daish camp on the fringes of Shepparton in Victoria and taken by the government from his parents at the age of 4 months. All his mother Blanche's 13 children were taken from her. He was put in the Box Hill Boys Home at the age of 2 and suffered horrific abuse there. He had no memory of his parents and didn't know he was Aboriginal until after he was released from the boys Home at the age of 14.
He found his traumatised mother when he was 18. It was only in 2021 that he did a DNA test which led to his late father being traced. He was able ro trace his remarkable ancestors.
Uncle Jack Charles became the father of Aboriginal theatre in Australia. He appeared in films ( the first was The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith) and TV series, including Cleverman and Preppers. His story-telling talents made mainstream audiences aware of the suffering the Stolen Generations and the intergenerational trauma. He toured internationally with is play Jack Charles vs the Crown.
He was the recently the first witness to give evidence to the Yoorrook Truth Commission in Victoria which is documenting the effect of colonisation Indigenous people as part of a process leading up to treaties.
Uncle Jack Charles at one time had a male partner, but tragically they couldn't maintain the relationship because of the emotional damage of the abuse he suffered in the Box Hill Boys Home. He spent many years living on the streets and was addicted to heroin. In those years he was a cat burglar. He called it collecting the rent, meaning for the land stolen from his people. He was jailed many times.
In recent years he mentored young Aboriginal people on the streets and in prisons.
Members of his extended family were able to hold a smoking ceremony for him in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.