Indigenous elder Jack Charles bids farewell at state funeral at Hammer Hall

The state funerals of 79-year-old Boon Ulun, Ja Ja Ulun, Woi Ulun and Taunglun were held in front of a packed Hammer Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Charles’ coffin was decorated with indigenous designs and placed next to a traditional smoking fire on stage.

MC Ali Maza Long, whose grandfather founded the country’s first Aboriginal theater company with Charles in 1971, said the service would represent his life.

“Today’s service is either fame, story, color, song, and it wouldn’t be Uncle Jack without a little sass,” he said.

The crowd heard that Prime Minister Daniel Andrews, whom Charles called “Danny”, was unable to attend due to the flooding that hit the state.

Instead, Victoria’s Acting Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Colin Brooks, addressed the hall, paying particular tribute to Uncle Jack’s work with Victoria’s incarcerated people.

“He helped thousands of prisoners around our state,” Brooks said.

“With openness and honesty, he shared his life experiences and showed people what their future could be.

“He knew he could be an ‘instrument to change others’.”

The service was live-streamed to Victorian prisons, remand centres, and youth justice centres.

The crowd was entertained by musician Kutcha Edwards, who sang a revised anthem he had written with the late The Seekers singer Judith Durham.

ARIA winner Dan Sultan also sang on the piano.

Charles suffered a stroke on September 13 and died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital surrounded by friends and loved ones.

He was a survivor of the Stolen Generation, sent to Mission Shepperton before being moved to Box Hill Boys Home, and was a victim of abuse at an early age.

This came before a cycle of imprisonment that ended when he embarked on a pioneering career in the arts.

first published as Aboriginal elders say goodbye at Hammerhall state funeral