Alan Young Najukpayi OAM, an Elder from Yarralin, has been honoured with an Order of Australia Medal for his many decades of extraordinary service to his community.

The Northern Land Council said Mr Young Najukpayi has "selflessly devoted his life to his country, his culture and his people".

"He has also provided many years of invaluable service in support of the activities of the NLC, particularly in relation to a number of claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA) and the Native Title Act," the Council said in a statement.

Mr Young Najukpayi's evidence, knowledge, assistance and advice has been "critical to the success of a number of land claims and matters and also to the preservation of knowledge of country and the maintenance of culture."

Chair of the Northern Land Council, Samuel Bush-Blanasi, said he had not hesitated to throw his support behind Mr Young Najukpayi's nomination.

"I can think of no more worthy recipient for such an award than Mr Young Najukpayi, who has contributed so much to his people, country and the work of the Northern Land Council over many, many years.

"Mr Young Najukpayi is a humble man but he is one of the giants upon whose shoulders we all stand."

"It is only through the dedication and selfless commitment of people like Mr Young Najukpayi that we have got a lot of country back and kept our cultures alive," he said.

Yarralin, also known as Walangeri, is a remote community in the Northern Territory, located on the banks of the Wickham River, about 15 km west of Victoria River Downs.

Mr Young Najukpayi was born in the early 1930s in the Natives' Tent beside the hospital at the Victoria River Downs homestead and grew up in the "native" compound nearby.

He began working at the station at a very young age just prior to the Second World War, and worked at Moolooloo, Pigeon Hole, Centre Camp and Mount Sandford outstations, along with other stations further west.

Along with other roles, Mr Young Najukpayi worked as a drover, twice travelling to Queensland and also pushing cattle to VRD's Wyndham meatworks in the east Kimberley district, Western Australia, a number of times.

Mr Young Najukpayi's knowledge, assistance and advice has been critical to the success of a number of land-related claims and matters including the Jasper Gorge - Kidman Springs Land Claim (ALRA 1990) and the Wickham River Land Claim (ALRA 2009).

His evidence and knowledge of Country has been crucial in the ongoing Victoria River Native Title Claim, including his contributions to a map that will form a key element of the claim and has been described by the Northern Land Council staff anthropologist as "astonishing" in its detail, breadth and scale.

Mr Young Najukpayi also contributed extensive mapping of the cultural elements of southern portion of the Judbarra-Gregory National Park and to the Judbarra-Gregory National Park Plan of management.

His enduring determination to see justice for his people extends not only to land, law and culture but also to living and working conditions.

In 1972 Mr Young Najukpayi was instrumental in the strike by Aboriginal stockmen at the Victoria River Downs pastoral leaseholding in protest against working for rations, and demanded they receive proper pay and conditions and a return of their ancestral lands.

That action was part of a long and proud tradition of Aboriginal workers uniting to fight for their rights.

Those lands were not returned until the conclusion of the Wickham River Land Claim 44 years later, when land in and around the Yarralin community was returned in 2016.

Mr Young Najukpayi has also contributed to recording and registering sacred sites while working with the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, and he has been a long-term collaborator with anthropologist Deborah Bird-Rose on her books Dingo Makes Us Human: Life and Land in an Australian Aboriginal Culture published in 2000 and Hidden Histories: Black stories from Victoria River Downs, Humbert River and Wave Hill Stations published in 1991.

He also worked with author and historian Darryl Lewis on his 2012 book A Wild History: Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier.

Mayor of the Victoria Daly Regional Council and Executive Councillor of the Northern Land Council, Brian Pedwell, speaking from Mr Young Najukpayi's hometown of Yarralin, said the whole town and the region was delighted by the award.

"We are all pleased to see that one of our countrymen has been honoured in this way. His recognition is long overdue and I know that I speak on behalf of everyone at Yarralin and right across the VRD [Victoria River Downs district] when I send our heartfelt appreciation and congratulations to Mr Young Najukpayi, his family and countrymen and women," said Mayor Pedwell.

By Giovanni Torre