Indigenous lawyer and human rights activist Paul Coe farewelled in Cowra
Relatives gather to mourn the Aboriginal lawyer and activist. (ABC News)
In short:
A leader of the Aboriginal civil rights movement has been remembered for his pioneering work and his quest for justice.
Wiradjuri Elder, lawyer and activist Paul Coe died last month aged 76.
He played a key role in setting up both the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the names and images of an Indigenous person who has died which is used with the permission of their family.
Around 400 people gathered today to farewell Wiradjuri elder Paul Coe at the Erambie Aboriginal Mission at Cowra in the NSW Central West, where he grew up.
Aboriginal rights activist Paul Coe helped establish the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Tent Embassy in Canberra. (Supplied)
The Aboriginal justice advocate and activist died on July 29, aged 76.
Fighting for Aboriginal rights
In his eulogy, Paul Coe Jr spoke of the harsh, traumatic conditions that his father grew up in under protectionist policies and how his grandparents fought to give his father an education.
He said his father moved to Sydney in the late 1960s following the 1967 referendum to initially try his luck as an athlete before considering a career in the arts.
Paul Coe Jr spoke of the sustained efforts to assimilate Aboriginal culture that his dad grew up within. (ABC News)
But Mr Coe Jr said experiences of violence living in Redfern made his father realise that art was not going to be "good enough".
"To quote Dad — 'I gave up painting and sculpting because I realised that you cannot paint social, political and economic change',"Mr Coe Jr said.
"You had to do it."
Paul Coe was one of the first Indigenous barristers in New South Wales. (ABC News)
As an activist in Australia's Black Power movement, Mr Coe used the law to fight for Aboriginal land rights and was the first Aboriginal person to study law at the University of New South Wales.
He played a role in the establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service in the early 1970s and then in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra in 1972.
Paul Coe Jr said his father's legal advocacy culminated in bringing legal action against the Commonwealth on behalf of the Wiradjuri people in 1979 over the dispossession of land by the British.
"Dad was asserting the sovereignty of Aboriginal people to this land. That same argument ripples across this land," he said.
Hundreds gathered today to farewell Aboriginal rights activist Paul Coe in the town of Cowra. (ABC News)
While Mr Coe's land rights case was unsuccessful in the High Court, it laid the foundation for the influential 1992 Mabo decision that recognised native title.
Despite being disbarred in 1997, Mr Coe Jnr said his father continued to advocate for Aboriginal sovereignty through teaching.
"Dad balanced national activism with unwavering love and responsibility for his family,"Mr Coe Jr said.
Mourners are welcomed to Wiradjuri country to celebrate Paul Coe's life. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
Sovereignty 'unfinished business'
Family and fellow activists passionately addressed the crowd about the need to continue Mr Coe's legacy in the ongoing fight for Aboriginal rights.
Friend Lyall Munro Jr spoke of Mr Coe's "fortitude" when advocating for Aboriginal rights on the international stage.
"Pushing the rights of our people, he didn’t care who was in the audience, where they came from, or what they represented," Mr Munro Jr said.
Aunty Jenny Munro said her brother was a "giant among heroes" in the fight for Aboriginal self-determination. (ABC News)
Paul's sister Aunty Jenny Munro spoke of her brother's "warped" sense of humour, and called for the fight for self-determination to continue.
"Paul is a giant among the heroes because he saw it so clearly, so strongly, and articulated it so beautifully," Ms Munro said.
"I hope there are children around me listening, taking it in, and wanting to be the next giant of the Wiradjuri."
Around 400 people marched from Mr Coe's celebration, calling for land rights and Aboriginal self-determination. (ABC News)
At the end of the service, mourners took to the streets of Cowra in a funeral procession while calling for land rights and sovereignty to be recognised.
Mr Coe is survived by eight children, 10 grandchildren, and extended family.
For full article please visit ABC website here