A glimpse into the life and legacy of Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM.

"Don't try and suppress me."

Those were the words that stopped a nation in its tracks — and they came from an extraordinary woman. Here is a glimpse into the life and legacy of Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM — Arrernte Anmatjere woman, film pioneer, nun, activist, politician, and 2015 NAIDOC Person of the Year.

Born in 1937 at the remote Utopia Station in the Northern Territory, Rosalie's life journey reads like something far too remarkable for any single human being to have lived.

She made history on the big screen. At just 16 years old, Rosalie became the first Indigenous woman to star in a lead role in an Australian feature film — the landmark 1955 production Jedda — which explored the tensions between traditional Aboriginal life and European influence. It was a film that changed Australian cinema forever, and she did it as a teenager from the outback.

Then she walked away from the spotlight entirely. She became the first Aboriginal Anglican nun when she entered the Community of the Holy Name spending a full decade in quiet, devoted service before answering a different calling.

She built something from nothing. After leaving the convent, she set up the very first Aboriginal family group home in Victoria, based in Essendon — fighting on the ground for housing, education, and medical care for her people.

She took the fight to the world stage. In 2010, Rosalie travelled to Geneva to address the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, shining an international spotlight on the injustices faced by First Nations Australians.

And then came the moment that defined a generation. On ABC's Q&A in 2014, Rosalie looked down the camera and said what so many had felt for so long: "I am not the problem." It was raw, powerful, and impossible to ignore. The then-Chief Minister of the Northern Territory began his eulogy at her state funeral with those very words.

With over 50 years of dedication to human rights and politics — earning an Order of Australia Medal, the title of Northern Territorian of the Year, and a place as a finalist for Australian of the Year — Rosalie remained one of the most powerful voices for change in Aboriginal Australia right into her late 70s.

In 2019, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Batchelor Institute in recognition of her decades of commitment to the self-determination of First Nations peoples.

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks passed away on 26 January 2022, aged 85 — on the very day many Aboriginal Australians call a day of mourning. But her words, her courage, and her legacy live on in every community she fought for.