Naarm gathered in the thousands below the steps of Victorian Parliament House to stand in solidarity, speak, listen and learn at the city's major Invasion Day rally.
90 minutes of speeches came before the crowd filled Bourke Street in the march down the hill on January 26.
It's been reported brief meetings between the Invasion Day and March for Australia rallies were separated quickly with some brief clashes and two people quickly moved on by police.
From 11am, speakers on the steps included respected local Elders Uncle Robbie Thrope and Uncle Gary Foley, Kathleen Terrick, Wurundjeri man Thane Garvey, Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Travis Lovett and organisers Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance's Tarneen Onus Browne and Celeste Liddle, among others.
Police estimated 17,000 people were in attendance.
"There is no unifying message about this date from a white or black perspective," Ms Liddle said speaking on behalf of Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance.
Organisers take the position for no change of the date, but for it to instead be recognised as a day of mourning - first expressed by Yorta Yorta man William Cooper in 1938.
"And there is nothing to celebrate. We call for change at the most fundamental levels of this society and a reckoning with the true history to ensure that one day there is indeed something to celebrate.
"Until the day comes, we, the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, call for the 26th of January to be an official day of mourning."
Waking up on the day brings "mixed feelings", Onus Browne told National Indigenous Times, "It's quite emotional, but then you get here and you see the people and the power of this day".
"This year we're calling for a national day of mourning for First Nations people around the country so we can gather, grieve, protest and remember the people who came before us, and build a future we can all be proud of," they added.
Thane Garvey told the crowd he is always proud of his people, and proud of those who attend the gathering each year, stating it represents effort to "show the colony we will not stand down to hatred and hurt".
Another speaker said for those who are made uncomfortable by protests around the country on January 26: "Good."
She told young ones "you are not broken. You are strong".
Earlier on the day, reports estimate more than 1,000 people attended a dawn mourning ceremony at Camp Sovereignty nearby - five months on from the site being stormed by Neo Nazis.
It was also the first Invasion Day rally since the state formally signed the country's first Treaty with First Peoples in late 2025.
First Peoples' Assembly Dja Dja Wurrung reserved seat holder Djaran Murray-Jackson expressed his fears for Treaty with the election of a Liberal state Government later this year - who have flagged plans to repeal the agreement if they're successful.
Also on Monday, In a statement read on behalf of Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark Brown, who was booed by Neo Nazis at an ANZAC dawn ceremony last year, he noted January 26 is "not a neutral date".
"It marks the beginning of invasion, violence, theft of land and the attempted destruction of our people. This country was built on stolen land, and the wealth of this nation still sits on that theft today," his statement said.
"Our children were stolen, our languages were banned, our ceremonies were criminalised. Our people were massacred. And for generations, this nation told itself a lie, and called it history. And yet, every year we're told to celebrate. Celebrate what?"
As the crowd marched down Bourke street, chants of "Always was, always will be Aboriginal land", calls for police oversight and change and land rights echoed.
