Please note: This story contains reference to someone who has died.
Over 3,000 people marched through Boorloo/Perth on Invasion Day to acknowledge more than two centuries of struggle and survival in the face of colonial violence.
The rally gathered in the heart of the city in Forrest Chase at noon before walking down Barrack Street and St George's Terrace to reach the Supreme Court gardens for the Birak Concert which ran into the evening.
Co-organiser and MC Marianne Headland MacKay lead the chant "Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land".
Speakers at the rally included Natasha Eldridge, Delly Stokes, Noongar rapper Flewnt, Jason Bropho and Jamahl Ryder. Megan Krakouer was also a co-organiser of the action.
Elder Uncle Herbert held the very same flag that flew at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra on 26 January 1972.
Despite the size of the rally social distancing was practiced thoroughly by everyone. Elders, kids and the crowd observed COVID safety rules to keep everyone safe.
In Sydney many thousands of people gathered in the centre of the city calling for justice for Aboriginal deaths in custody as part of the nationwide protests.
The rallying cry of "Always was, always will be Aboriginal land" resounded coast-to-coast, with it chanted by demonstrators marching from Town Hall to Victoria Park.
MC of the Sydney rally, Elizabeth Jarrett, a Dunghutti-Bundjalug activist, said: "We feel proud today yet sad in knowing why we have to stand here. Why do we have to promote our invasion to make sure Australia sees us?"
She listed the many reasons Indigenous people continue to protest including police violence, deaths in custody and inequality across a range of areas.
At least 500 hundred Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody made its 339 recommendations over 30 years ago.
"We want to make sure our murders stop, the raping of our women, the stealing of our children... and the desecration of our culture," Ms Jarrett added, as reported by AAP.
Gamilaraay woman Helen Russell, wearing a red shirt emblazoned with pictures of her two dead sons - one who was killed in his own home by police and the other who died in Long Bay Prison, blamed the country's police and prisons for targeting Aboriginal men.
"My two sons were killed by the system," she said. "I just cry and cry and keep on crying because we have never gotten justice. I don't think we ever will."
Brisbane and Adelaide also held Invasion Day rallies.
Canberra, Darwin and Melbourne did not hold mass in-person actions but commemorated the day of mourning online because of concerns surrounding COVID-19. Melbourne also hosted a smaller dawn service.
By Safiah Rind and Giovanni Torre
