It was a farewell as big as the personality of the wise, cheeky Aboriginal legend it honoured.
Hundreds of mourners from across politics, the arts and Indigenous communities gathered in Melbourne to remember the "finest storyteller", Uncle Jack Charles.
Before his final departure in a hearse down St Kilda Road, flanked by the community that loved him, a state funeral heard dozens of affectionate tales of the man dubbed the father of black theatre.
