The funeral of the late Aboriginal land rights and health activist Solomon Bellear. Credit:James Brickwood

It followed Bellear's final drive through Redfern, alongside mourners who marched proudly beneath Aboriginal flags.

A Bundjalung man from Mullumbimby and a lifelong campaigner for Indigenous health and land rights, Bellear was the first chairman of the Aboriginal Legal Service in the 1970s and played a pivotal role in the formation of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern.

Mourners on Saturday heard of his infamous afro, his role in one of the first land rights marches in NSW, which landed him in jail, and his meeting with Gough Whitlam at the 1972 Tent Embassy.

Fellow Aboriginal activist and scholar Paul Coe spoke of the hope Bellear's life had inspired, harking back on the black power salute he gave after scoring a try, which saw him dropped from the Rabbitohs squad, only to find himself on the club's board years later.