Indigenous rights trailblazer Lowitja O'Donoghue was one of a select few Australians of whom it could be confidently said changed the course of the nation.
"One of the great rocks around which the river of our history has gently bent, persuaded to flow along a better course," was how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the esteemed Yankunytjatjara woman.
"Her remarkable power was one built on an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united Australia."
Dr O'Donoghue was both an ally and adversary to numerous prime ministers through the years but Mr Albanese's eulogy, delivered before hundreds of mourners at St Peter’s Cathedral in Adelaide on Friday, conveyed the universal respect now afforded her in Australian politics.
She played a key role in the 1967 referendum, lobbied the Keating government to recognise Indigenous land ownership through native title laws and advised on the apology to the stolen generation.
Dr O'Donoghue died on Kaurna Country in Adelaide with her immediate family by her side, on February 4. She was 91.
"As we mourn her, we give thanks for the better Australia that she helped to make possible," Mr Albanese said.
"Perhaps even more importantly, we reflect on the possibility of an even better Australia, which she placed so clearly before us.
"Through her time in this world, Dr O’Donoghue walked tall and the power of her example made us all walk that little bit taller as well.
"Now she walks in another place. Yet, thanks to all that she did, she will always be here. In all her warmth and all her strength, a great rock standing forever at the river’s bend.
"May she rest in peace."
Dr O'Donoghue gained prominence after becoming the first Aboriginal person to train as a nurse at Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1954.
After being denied the opportunity because of her Indigenous heritage, she successfully lobbied then-premier Thomas Playford to win her right to admission, setting her on a lifelong path of fighting for equality.
She was a member of the stolen generation, taken from her mother at two and put in a children's home.
In the 1960s, she joined Aboriginal rights groups in South Australia before working as a nurse and welfare officer for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in the same state.
She campaigned for the 1967 referendum that changed the constitution to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the population and make laws for them.
Dr O'Donoghue continued her advocacy and was later made a member of the Order of Australia in 1977.
She was the founding chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference and in 1984 was named Australian of the Year.
Dr O'Donoghue became the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1990.
One of her greatest achievements was lobbying the Keating government to recognise Aboriginal land ownership through the Native Title Act.
Another was advising prime minister Kevin Rudd on the apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly the stolen generation, in 2008.
Away from public life, Dr O'Donoghue's family were well acquainted with her fierce determination and strong will that served the cause of Aboriginal rights so well.
But they also knew her as a kind, generous, compassionate, larger-than-life, one-of-a-kind woman.
"We loved her, we adored her, we have no idea what life will be like without her here," her niece Deborah Edwards said.
"We are so proud of all that she was, all that she achieved, and all that she gave to this nation.
"We are proud that she was ours."
The non-profit Lowitja O'Donoghue Foundation was set up in 2022 to continue her legacy by creating opportunities for advancement and change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Her family has asked mourners to donate to the foundation in lieu of flowers.
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