Warning: This story contains the names and images of Indigenous people who have died.
The legacy of "two icons" of Australian music took another step on Saturday with the unveiling of a statue of Archie Roach AC AM and Ruby Hunter.
The brass statue created by artist Darien Pullen stands proudly in Fitzroy's Atherton Gardens.
Around 100 attendees braved the rain to see the unveiling, which sits in a newly landscaped space which pays tribute to the famous couple's connection to the inner-city area, as well as its rich Indigenous history and ongoing significance to members of the Stolen Generation.
Aunty Myrtle Roach said Atherton Gardens would always be a place for herself and her family.
"Fond and treasured memories of a bygone era for the ole parkies like myself," she said.
"It's only fitting my brother's statue and dear Ruby find its permanent place there for all my people and the community to share.
"We as a family feel both a sense of sadness and excitement as we celebrate two legends and so much-loved members of the Roach and Hunter family."
Always encouraged by Ruby, his long-time musical and life partner, Archie was a Gunditjmara (Kirrae Whurrong/Djab Wurrung) and Bundjalung musician, whose first album, Charcoal Lane - named after the street opposite where the statue stands - became a national hit, with the song Took the Children Away astounding the country.
Archie was posthumously appointed a companion of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts as well as to Indigenous rights and for supporting First Peoples artists.
He passed away in 2022.
Ruby, who Taungurung musician Grant Hansen said on Saturday always encouraged Archie to write songs, was a Ngarrindjeri, Kokatha and Pitjantjatjara woman from South Australia.
Her 1994 album, Thoughts Within, was the first solo album released by a First Peoples female artist, earning an ARIA nomination.
In 2001, she made her acting debut in the Rachel Perkins-directed, award-winning feature fiction film One Night the Moon, starring Paul Kelly.
She passed away in 2010.
Musician Paul Kelly described to the Guardian in 2022 the first time hearing Took the Children Away, when Archie opened for him and his band, The Messengers, at the now Hamer Hall in Melbourne in 1991.
"I was watching from the side – I had goosebumps and the hairs went up on the back of my neck as he sang it, to dead silence from the audience. He finished the song and there was still dead silence," he said.
"He just stood there for a minute, and there was still silence. Archie thought he'd bombed, that everybody hated it, so he just turned and started to walk off stage. And as he walked off, this applause started to build and build and build. It was this incredible reaction. I'd never seen it before – people were so stunned at the end of the song that it took them a while just to gather themselves to applaud."
The song went on to win a Human Rights Achievement Award, the first time the award had been given to a songwriter.
Victorian Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Natalie Hutchins, said both Archie and Ruby were "legendary musicians and leaders in the Aboriginal community and this stunning public artwork is a wonderful tribute to their achievements".
She told the crowd on Saturday that Took the Children Away had "challenged the nation to reckon with its past," arguing it had a "profound impact" on Australians, as well as people across the globe.
In 2020, Ruby was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame.
In a statement, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation said they were "incredibly proud" to have been involved in the development and installation of the memorial.
"It continues and builds upon the legacy of significance this area holds to not just Wurundjeri people but to many different mobs, including Uncle Archie Roach and Aunty Ruby Hunter, who are honoured here, that found family and connection to community in these streets," they said.
