What about Roach and his background make him one of the most influential indigineous role models?

Archie Roach was born at the Framlingham Aboriginal mission in south-western Victoria. When he turned seven, he was forcibly removed from his family, becoming part of the "stolen" generation. He was placed in the foster system, and was sent into three foster homes before finally leaving his foster homes to go and find his birth family at the age of fourteen. He was not able to find his family, and instead ended up homeless on the streets as an alcoholic. He took these elements of his unjust life and the way in which the aboriginal people were treated and decided to speak up against it. It was because of colonialism that Roach was unable to live a real life, it was because of colonialism that Roach's family was torn apart, and it was because of Roach's family that thousands of people's lives and health were at stake. These peoples' homes were being destroyed. Roach did not just speak up about it in the traditional sense, he took one of his passions (music) that he developed at one of his fosters home, and catered it to be able to speak about important and pressing concerns such as this one.

Why did Archie Roach become a musician- does his field of interest have any significance or link to his defence of indigineous rights?

Once Roach discovered his passion for music at his third foster home, he carried that passion around with him for the rest of his life. When recovering from alcoholism, Roach began to write his own songs. One of them which was called “Took the Children Away”, was about his experience as a child, and became his trademark work. This song ended up with Roach being invited to perform at the Melbourne Town Hall with Paul Kelly in 1988 and shortly thereafter he was quickly offered a record contract. From the late 1980s, Roach recorded a series of songs which he was able to tour in The United States and Australia. Roach received numerous ARIA Awards as well as a Human Rights Award. He is now considered one of Australia's most distinctive and influential aboriginal performers. Roach's songs take a sweet experience such as listening to music and merge theme with his experiences growing up as an aboriginal Australian. This creates a bittersweet atmosphere when listening to his songs, and thus makes them very effective in delivering and address issues relating to indigenous culture to his audience.