The body of iconic musician Archie Roach has travelled across Victoria following a route that mirrored the journey he made in life.
The family of Archie Roach has given permission for his name, image and music to be used.
Crowds lined the streets to pay their respects as Archie's hearse, flanked by Indigenous motorcycle club the Southern Warriors, made its way through the streets of Fitzroy and Collingwood, where Archie spent his youth.
After touring the inner-city suburbs he once walked — including Charcoal Lane, after which he named his breakthrough album — Archie's cortege made its way back to Gunditjmara country in south-west Victoria.
Archie grew up at the Framlingham mission and died on country in Warrnambool two weeks ago at the age of 66, after a long illness.
Activist Robbie Thorpe, who was among those who gathered to pay their respects in Collingwood, described Archie as one of Australia's greatest singers, philosophers, a "soul man" and a "spirit man".
"I think we've lost someone so special, he touched all of our hearts and related to a lot of our people right across this country, in regards to the Stolen Generations issue especially, everyone felt it," he said.
Remembering an 'icon in the community'
Archie spoke about his experience as a member of the Stolen Generations in many of his songs, and received an Australian Human Rights Award for his debut single, They Took The Children Away.
The singer-songwriter was taken from his family as a young child, and after leaving foster care spent years living on the streets in Melbourne and Adelaide, trying to reconnect with his family.
Many of the stops the procession made were places Archie spent time during those years.
In Collingwood, a significant place was 'The Rocks' on Smith Street, where members of the local Aboriginal community would connect with friends and family to share stories about their lived experiences on the streets of Melbourne.
"We weren't really welcome … so these are the places we hung out. In the laneways, in the parks," Mr Thorpe said.
The final stop before heading to Warrnambool was Cleve Gardens in St Kilda, another place where Archie often spent time with the love of his life, the late Ruby Hunter, and other family members in the 1970s.
Judith Jackson, a Gunggari woman and Elder known to many as Aunty Jacko, would often hang out with the couple in the park. She cried when remembering the friendship she had with Archie and Ruby.
"He's an icon in the community, all over Australia," she said.
"All of his songs are from the heart, how we lived … the words in the songs tell everything of his life and our life."
Archie's niece, Donna Roach, said his presence will be sorely missed.
"He meant everything to me, he was my uncle, he was my friend … just reconnecting family, we never got to grow up together as family members, and he brought us all together, he reconnected my siblings, my cousins," she said.
She described him as a storyteller with a strong connection with family.
"We're going to miss him, his music's never going to stop, it'll go on for generations. It's just heartbreaking, it's going to be hard," she said.
Hundreds gather to honour great mentor
Archie's family arranged the procession as a way for the public to honour the Indigenous icon, as Tuesday's funeral on country will be a private affair.
Tony Russell, a Yorta Yorta man riding with the Southern Warriors, said it was an honour to be asked to escort the hearse.
He added that Archie's journey was inspirational for many young Aboriginal men who knew him as a great mentor.
"Good to see Aboriginal men with all these motorbikes here, we're all hard-working men," he said during the stop in St Kilda.
"We've been through some hard times, all of us, our family have been stolen, myself incarcerated at a young age, but we're empowering men you can do it."
As the procession pulled away from the final stop in Melbourne, hundreds of people waved goodbye, flying Aboriginal flags and raising their fists in honour of Mr Roach, his activism and his legacy.
Then in Warrnambool, more than 250 kilometres from Melbourne, hundreds more gathered to watch as Archie returned to his cultural homeland.
Among them were two women who made the three-hour drive from Dimboola to Warrnambool to pay their respects.
"[Uncle Archie] has led by example, showing what's possible," one of them told the ABC.
"Things like what happened to him, he's overcome them.
"This is a great gathering of people to come together, whether they're indigenous or not, to celebrate the life of this Indigenous man who gave us so much."
The private funeral will be held on Tuesday as his family farewells a man whose stories and songs transformed a nation.
Archie released 10 albums in his career, including five in the last decade of his life.
In 2020, Archie was inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame.
He will be remembered as one of Australia's most influential and inspiring musicians.
