Before he was famous, as young Archie Roach mingled with other young Aboriginal people in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, he told those he met he was looking for his family.
On one particular day in the 1970s, which long-time friend Uncle Graham "Bootsie" Thorpe described as "the most memorable day" he ever had, Uncle Archie unexpectedly met one of his siblings.
He had told his new acquaintances that his mob was Gunditjmara, and his name.
"Unbeknownst to Archie, his brother was standing right beside me," Mr Thorpe said.
He said "the way they cuddled and hugged and cried" had stuck with him ever since.
From the moment a letter delivered to him at school revealed to Uncle Archie that he had been taken from his family while also informing him of his mother's death, reconnecting with relatives was a lifelong journey.
Mr Thorpe said his friend Archie was the kind of person "you just loved".
"Archie always used to say to us down the lanes, 'I'm gonna be famous, one day'," he said.
"We'd look at him and say 'oh yeah, yeah'.
"He said, 'And when I do become famous, I'm going to buy you this, I'm going to buy you that.'
"Never got nothing out of him … but what he give us was love and respect, and that'll live with me forever."
At a state memorial service farewelling the legendary Gunditjmara and Bundjalung musician and activist, the intertwining themes that defined Uncle Archie's life — his powerful connection to music, and being stolen from, and then reconnecting with, his family — were present in every moment.
Uncle Archie died at the age of 66 in July this year.
Thousands of people crowded Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl to celebrate the life of Uncle Archie, and to bid him farewell.
Before the music began, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews offered an apology to the great musician on behalf of his government, for what he endured by being removed from his family.
As the memorial charted his story, indelibly shaped by that experience as a member of the Stolen Generations, the story of his love for his life partner Ruby Hunter was recalled.
The pair met as teenagers and remained linked until her death in 2010.
Among the tributes from old friends, family and those who worked with Uncle Archie, a rendition of his most famous song led by his son Amos Roach was a particularly poignant part of the proceedings.
Paul Kelly recalled meeting Uncle Archie at the Melbourne Concert Hall — now Hamer Hall — in 1989.
Kelly introduced himself to Uncle Archie and a few hours later, he confided in Kelly that he had mistaken him for a "security guy".
The pair would go on to have a decades-long friendship.
"He did a 20-minute set and he finished with Took the Children Away, and when he finished there was dead silence in the crowd and Archie thought he'd bombed," Kelly said.
"He sort of slumped a bit and started walking off to the wings.
"As he walked, slowly this applause just built, and built, and built, and all the hairs went up on the back of my neck and on my arms and shoulders and everywhere.
"And Archie just walked off, to the night."
'This is an apology for all my brothers and sisters who don't get one'
When Mr Andrews spoke at the service, he said he was present "not to give a speech, but to make a profound apology."
"As premier of Victoria, and along with the Victorian government, we acknowledge the immense pain, suffering and despair placed upon Archie due to past government policies and laws," he said.
"We deeply and genuinely acknowledge his continued resilience, strength and courage in his journey of recovery.
"On behalf of the Victorian government, we make this overdue apology to you, Archie."
Archie was just three when he was taken from his family, and never saw his parents again.
Stories like his are being heard at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the country's first truth-telling commission, which is being run alongside Victoria's Treaty process.
"The Victorian government apologises for the forced removal from your family, from your country, community, culture and language, and for depriving you of your birthright by actions perpetrated on you," Mr Andrews said.
"We apologise for the extreme, inhumane acts committed against you, the torture, the unspeakable hurt and the intergenerational trauma that you and your family continue to carry and experience due to your removal.
"I am sorry. We are sorry."
Uncle Archie's sister and last remaining sibling, Aunty Myrtle Roach, accepted the apology on behalf of her "baby brother", who she described as a gift.
She said Archie spent a lot of his life looking for answers and it would be easy for her to be angry "but I won't be".
She said her brother had "come good" and achieved so much in his life.
"He was a gift to me," she says of Archie.
"I am proud of him.
"He found strength to fight, to survive.
"This is an apology for all my brothers and sisters who don't get one."
After Archie passed away in July, he was buried in a private ceremony on Gunditjmara country in south-west Victoria in August.
Mourners had a chance to say goodbye as his hearse travelled from inner Melbourne back to Warrnambool.
Aunty Myrtle said goodbye, reading out the names of her siblings and her parents, and said the apology from Victoria's government was for all of them.
"[They] all are at peace now, I'm the last one," she said.
"You are free now, Archie, fly high."
