Alan Young Najukpayi was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
The Northern Land Council congratulated the Elder, saying he had provided many years of invaluable service in support of the council's activities, particularly in relation to a number of Land Rights and Native Title claims.
NLC Chair Samuel Bush-Blanasi said Mr Young Najukpayi's evidence, knowledge and advice had been critical to the success of the a number of claims, and also the preservation of knowledge of Country and the maintenance of culture.
"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," he said in a statement.
“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.”
Mr Young Najukpayi was born in the early 1930s in the Natives’ Tent beside the hospital at the Victoria River Downs homestead in the NT, the NLC said.
He worked at a number of stations in the region, and also worked as a drover travelling to Queensland and Western Australia's Kimberley region.
In 1972 he played an instrumental role in the strike by Aboriginal stockmen at the Victoria River Downs pastoral station in protest against working for rations, demanding proper pay and conditions, and a return of their ancestral lands, the NLC said.
That land wasn't returned to them until the conclusion of the Wickham River Land Claim, when land around the Yarralin community was returned in 2016.
Victoria Daly Regional Council Mayor Brian Pedwell said the whole community was proud and celebrating alongside Mr Young Najukpayi.
“We are all pleased to see that one of our countrymen has been honoured in this way," he said.
"His recognition is long overdue and I know that I speak on behalf of everyone at Yarralin and right across the Victoria River Downs when I send our heartfelt appreciation and congratulations to Mr Young Najukpayi, his family and countrymen and women."
