The fierce tenacity and gentle humanity of Lowitja O'Donoghue has been celebrated at the unveiling of a statue of the Indigenous rights trailblazer.
The bronze monument, created by Robert Hannaford, was revealed in Adelaide on Tuesday, the first of six statues to memorialise prominent Aboriginal South Australians.
Dr O'Donoghue 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 Generations.
She was a member of the Stolen Generations, taken from her mother at two and put in a children's home.
"It is hard to imagine a more tragic and unjust start to anyone's life," Premier Peter Malinauskas told guests at the unveiling.
