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WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned the following article contains images of a deceased person.
Former Australian of the Year Indigenous leader Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue has died in Adelaide aged 91.
Born on APY Lands, O'Donoghue dedicated her life to the rights, health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In 1984 she was named Australian of the Year.
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South Australian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher called her a "trailblazer".
"She was a leader, a trailblazer, and a friend to so many people and it is because of Lowitja that so many others do what they do today," Maher said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said she was "one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known".
He said she provided "courageous" leadership during the Mabo debates and as chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
She was also involved in the apology to the Stolen Generation and the 1967 referendum.
"As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible," he said.
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"Dr O'Donoghue had an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united and reconciled Australia.
"It was a faith she embodied with her own unceasing efforts to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to bring about meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.
"Life threw significant challenges at her – not least a childhood in which she was separated from her family, her language, and even her own name.
"From the earliest days of her life, Dr O'Donoghue endured discrimination that would have given her every reason to lose faith in her country.
"Yet she never did."
Her legacy will continue though the work of the Lowitja O'Donoghue Foundation, established on her 90th birthday.
