An advocate and author whose work was pivotal in exposing the history of the removal of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory has been remembered for her strength and fierce commitment to social justice.

Key points: Territory politicians both past and present have paid tribute to Barbara Cummings

Territory politicians both past and present have paid tribute to Barbara Cummings Mrs Cummings is credited with exposing the abuse of child removal in the NT

Mrs Cummings is credited with exposing the abuse of child removal in the NT The Northern Land Council chief executive says her passing is a reminder of "unfinished business"

Barbara Cummings passed away this week aged 71 and many have paid tribute to the trailblazing Territorian, who became a powerful voice in Aboriginal affairs in Australia.

A member of the Stolen Generations, Ms Cummings was taken from her mother and brought up in the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin.

Her 1990 account of her childhood, Take This Child, laid bare the abuse and emotional deprivation she and others experienced after being taken from their families.

When speaking to the ABC in 2014, Ms Cummings said people were yet to understand the "horrors" some children endured and she was working to support victims who were testifying at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Darwin's Retta Dixon home, where Barbara Cummings said she suffered years of abuse. ( ABC News )

"I think [the witnesses] are the bravest people in the world," she said at the time.

She also played a crucial role in the establishment of the now-closed Karu, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander childcare agency in the Northern Territory.

Her advocacy contributed to the development of the Bringing Them Home report, which became the basis of the Australian government's historic 2007 apology to Indigenous people.

Fight for recognition

A raft of high-profile Territory figures paid tribute to Ms Cummings over the weekend.

Northern Land Council chief executive Marion Scrymgour said Ms Cummings was a proud Nangiomeri woman who "almost single-handedly kickstarted the campaign for recognition of the injustices suffered by Stolen Generation people in the NT".

"Front and centre of that has been her fight for recognition of people of the Stolen Generation under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act," she wrote.

"Her sad passing reminds us of that unfinished business."

Territorians are paying tribute to the woman who fought for recognition for Stolen Generations children. ( ABC News )

NT Aboriginal Affairs Minister Selena Uibo said the Territory had lost one of its greats.

"Ms Cummings was a trailblazer for Aboriginal Affairs in Australia and a powerful voice for our Stolen Generations," she said.

"Her lifelong commitment to social justice has undoubtedly inspired the current generation of Aboriginal leaders.

"She has left Australia a better place, not just for First Nations people, but for all Australians."

'She'd call a spade a spade'

The NT's first Indigenous cabinet minister Jak Ah Kit went to school with Ms Cummings.

Jack Ah Kit remembers Barbara Cummings as a boisterous and funny woman who made friends wherever she went. ( ABC News: Lucy Marks )

"Barbara made many friends wherever she went, both in the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community," he said.

"She was boisterous but she was a person that what you saw was what you got. She'd call a spade a spade. And that's what you would love about her. She had a lovely sense of humour and lived life to the fullest.

"Barbara always had a strong will to ensure that Aboriginal people were respected and understood."

Ms Cummings's family has given permission for her name and image to be used.