Designing the Crows’ 2022 Indigenous guernsey has been yet another step for Pat Caruso and his family on their journey to reconnect with their culture.
Growing up, Caruso’s connection with his Eastern Arrernte culture was fractured as his main connection, his mother Jenni, is a member of the Stolen Generations.
Removed from her family at the age of three, Jenni was initially placed on the Methodist Mission of Croker Island and subsequently sent to live with a foster family in Adelaide.
Caruso saw firsthand the ways that his mother’s early experiences shaped the way he was raised.
“Mum was so little when she was removed, so it was really hard for her to impart traditional knowledge but being Aboriginal was always part of our lives and she understood that being Aboriginal and connecting to our identity was significant for us growing up,” Caruso said.
“When we started school, volunteered at our school because she was so scared that legislation would change and us kids could be taken away from school, just as she had been.
“We were often told that being Aboriginal was a negative thing and then we would go to school and be told ‘oh, but you are one of the good ones’ or ‘you are different’.
“How we identified as Aboriginal was controlled by other people, and Mum had always said you need to own your Aboriginality, that you can’t allow people to define it for you.”
When Caruso was in his teens, his mother was able to reconnect to her family through Nunkuwarrin Yunti's Link-Up SA Program.
She was able to reunite with her mother before she passed and has since gone on to reestablish relationships with her extended family and community.
Having completed high school as a mature age student, Dr Jenni Caruso is now an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Adelaide.
She continued her education while lecturing in Aboriginal histories, graduating with multiple qualifications, including a Doctoral Degree of Philosophy in 2018.
“She is a pioneer in her industry and was really significant in my life and cultural journey,” Caruso said.
“I’ve realised that her diving back into culture, meeting our family when I was 15 and making those reconnection is as much about what happened in the past in our family as it is about how we own our identity moving forward
“That’s where the power and the strength lie for us.”
Caruso has forged his own path, starting his own marketing and design agency, We Create Print Deliver, which works with Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses across Australia.
He was initially approached by Adelaide Indigenous Programs Manager Jeremy Johncock and spent 12 months consulting with players from both teams and developing his design.
When asked about designing the first Indigenous guernsey to be worn by Adelaide’s men’s and women’s teams, he felt the weight of expectation of his family as well as the wider community to make the most of this opportunity and create a design they could all be proud of.
“Projects like this are different because it has to be perfect,” Caruso said.
“It has to connect and resonate with other First Nations people and I have to represent them to the best of my ability because I want them to be proud when they see it and to see how proud I am to have given this honour.
“It also has to represent and connect with people who aren’t First Nations – it is just as significant for them to hear the story and why it’s important.
“We all have a struggle and our own stories of our lives, and this struggle can really unify us and can bring people together.
“I also hope there are key messages in this that resonate with LGBTQIA+ people and different groups who have struggled with identity and knowing who they are and owning who they are.
“It’s significant across so many different backgrounds, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, but it is grounded in my mother’s identity and my own and my family’s identity as strong surviving Aboriginal people”
It was particularly significant for Caruso that the AFLW team will wear the guernsey first.
“My mother was my first connection to culture and my daughter Aubrey Grace is the youngest female from the grandchildren and will be the carrier of culture into the next generation.
“It’s almost like it’s come full circle.”
Adelaide will celebrate Indigenous culture in Round Nine in front of fans at Norwood Oval, when the side takes on Collingwood at Norwood Oval on Sunday, March 6.
The match will include activities for families as well as special pre-match performance by Kuma Karru.
This match is proudly supported by BHP.
Get access to our last home match of the AFLW home and away season PLUS receive general admission access to 2 Men’s home games of your choice, all for just $60! Get in quick, offer ends Friday 4 March 2022.
