The players donned strips worn by the Point Pearce, Kaurna and Raukkan football teams during the club’s main training session at AAMI Stadium.
Port Adelaide has embraced Indigenous culture, with 14 Indigenous players pulling on the black, white and teal since Port entered the AFL in 1997.
The Power currently have six Indigenous players on their list, including brothers Shaun and Peter Burgoyne, cousins Daniel and Marlon Motlop and Danyle Pearce and Nathan Krakouer.
Vice-captain Shaun Burgoyne said Wednesday’s apology from the Federal Government meant Aboriginal people could now begin the “healing process”.
“It’s been a great day for Aboriginal people across Australia because it has been a long time coming,” Burgoyne said.
“By the Government saying sorry and acknowledging the wrongdoings of the past, a lot of the Aboriginal people can now start the healing process and begin to move forward and hopefully we can all work together as one to do that.”
“My parents have a lot of family and friends who were very affected by the Stolen Generation, or were taken themselves, and that has filtered on down to the kids.
“It has affected probably every Aboriginal person out there knowing that your family and your countrymen throughout Australia, in terms of the ones who were taken, lost their culture, their belief and their Aboriginality.
“For families to have had their kids ripped away from them without choice, it does make you think and I’m just lucky I wasn’t taken away. Everyone wants to grow up with their family.”
Coach Mark Williams, who has been an avid supporter of Indigenous footballers throughout his career, said the AFL was a great vehicle for bridging the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
“Indigenous players have played a magnificent role for our club and, if I take you back to the 2004 Grand Final, they were almost best-on-ground, each one of them,” he said.
“The role that football plays in bringing the community together has been outstanding. I think the AFL is certainly a leader in that area.”
Burgoyne hoped that AFL players like himself and his brother Peter would continue to be positive role models for the wider community.
“We get out and there and play footy and show that you can have a healthy lifestyle and you can make something out of yourself. It gives other people hope that they can achieve something, too.
“I consider myself a role model for every kid out there and not just the Indigenous kids. I hope I show that if you have goals and dreams and really strive to achieve them, you can.
“It's great being a role model to young kids and seeing the way they look up to you and how they take in everything you say. It’s a really positive thing.”
