Yiŋiya Guyula took NT politics by surprise when he won the seat of Nhulunbuy in 2016. After 10 years in the position, he resigned this week. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
Eight years ago, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, Yiŋiya Guyula took a message from the remote Northern Territory to the global stage.
"My people are crying out for justice and we are not being heard," Mr Guyula told the UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
The Big Apple was a world away from where he started, born deep in the bush and the son of an Arnhem Land crocodile hunter, Mr Guyula had learned to speak English only after age 10.
As a young man Yiŋiya Guyula trained as an aviation mechanic. (Supplied)
He went on to become an aeroplane mechanic and later, a commercial pilot.
By the time he reached the halls of the UN, he was an elected politician, determined to see real change for his home and true recognition of "Yolŋu sovereignty".
Mr Guyula landed a surprise victory in the NT electorate of Nhulunbuy in 2016, pipping the incumbent Labor member to the remote seat by just eight votes.
The Yolŋu elder had entered NT parliament as an outlier, a slayer of giants, an unknown.
Shocked and infuriated, the incoming Labor government challenged Mr Guyula's legitimacy in the courts — and then after their bid failed, he said they stonewalled him at every turn.
The independent member for Mulka vowed to stand up for his people. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
"People have said about me that I'm just a feather, flying in the breeze," Mr Guyula said at the UN in 2018.
"And I will make noises, and I will stand.
"And I will call out … and hopefully I will get stronger and stronger as I go on."
As it turns out, the independent MLA's words have now proved prescient.