Noel Butler of the Dhurga language group, spoken in the Yuin Nation, received the Outstanding Contribution to Reconciliation Award the Local Government Regional NAIDOC Awards, held at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre on Saturday, July 27.

The award recognised significant contributions made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Kiama, Shellharbour, Wollongong and Shoalhaven local government areas.

For more than 35 years the Budawang elder has travelled far and wide to teach, perform and learn. In 2009, he was invited to Poland to help Jewish holocaust survivors share their stories with their kin.

Mr Butler performed the first ever Aboriginal healing ceremony across the train tracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau 65 years after the camp was liberated.

Joined by his wife Trish, the couple have also taught in schools in the United Kingdom, represented Australia with cousin Bruce Pascoe at the World Indigenous Conference for Sustainability in India, performed at the Edinburgh Festival, performed with Phillip Butler and learned from local tribes at the Monolith Festival in Meghalaya in India, regularly host cultural learning days and walks and run their own Dhurga language program with three local preschools and one in Braidwood.

The One Track for All sculptor has found freedom blending art, language and music into a curriculum for preschoolers.

"Every area, every language group should access the local knowledge from that area. They teach French, Japanese, and everything else, but not an Australian language which is what it is," Mr Butler said.

Mr Butler said there were countless Aboriginal and Torres Islander people who deserve the same award.

"Most Aboriginal people are doing their bit, to try and not beat the system but trying to have the rights to have a say. If we can contribute and give somebody something and not take anything away, why is it not allowed?"