Prominent Indigenous rights campaigner Rosalie Kunoth-Monks has been remembered as a social justice advocate with a generous heart and a powerful voice at her state funeral in Alice Springs today.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.
Ms Kunoth-Monks' family has granted the ABC permission to use her name and image.
Hundreds of people gathered to honour the leader and relentless advocate, who died in January aged 85.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner delivered a eulogy that began with the now-famous words once spoken by Dr Kunoth-Monks on national television.
"Don't try and suppress me. I am not the problem. I have never left my country, nor have I ever ceded any part of it," he quoted from her ABC Q&A appearance in 2014.
"Strong words, the words of a person who would not back down," Mr Gunner said.
"Rosalie's respect for humanity enabled her to cross any divide. She treated everybody with warmth and respect," he said.
Formidable insight
Dr Kunoth-Monks was born in the remote Utopia homelands in Central Australia.
She rose to fame as the first Indigenous lead in a feature film, when she was cast as the titular role in Jedda at 16 years of age.
But Mr Gunner said she was a reluctant celebrity who didn't enjoy the trappings of fame.
"The journey she took from the silver screen to spending a decade as a sister in [the] Community of the Holy Name in Melbourne does not suggest a person who loves the trappings of celebrity," he said.
"Rather, she wanted to help people."
Dr Kunoth-Monks had a varied public career, as an advisor to the first chief minister of the Northern Territory and chair of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, among other roles.
"Educated in Aboriginal and European ways, Rosalie moved easily between them. It made her a person of formidable insight who fought for what she believed in and opposed that which she considered unjust," Mr Gunner said.
Big heart, huge brain
Batchelor Institute lecturer Kathryn Gilbey said Dr Kunoth-Monks was an inspiration and a friend.
"Her heart was so big; she could read a room instantly," she said.
"And her brain was so huge that she could process the information that was needed and say exactly what was needed at that moment.
"She taught me that I have to stand in my own power … that to be true to yourself and to do what is right is not always easy, and to fight for what you believe in – that core truth that sits in your belly that you can't ever compromise, not for money, not for power, because it's not worth it."
Central Desert councillor Jeff Iversen also delivered a eulogy where he described Dr Kunoth-Monks as a hero and a national treasure.
