Nick G.
The Aboriginal community in South Australia has lost two senior women leaders who passed away within a short time of each other in Coober Pedy.
Eileen Unkari Crombie died on July 18, aged 77, followed by Eileen Kampakuta Brown (above)on August 11, aged 80.
Worried about the loss of traditional Aboriginal culture, especially for the younger women, both women were instrumental in establishing the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, the Senior Aboriginal Women’s Council of Coober Pedy in the late 1980s. As Eileen Brown said, “We know that our Aboriginal culture is very important, not just for Aṉangu, but for our beautiful country, Australia”.
It was at a weekly Kungka meeting in 1998 that the Eileens learned of the Howard government plans to build a nuclear waste dump within the Woomera Prohibited Area, not far from Coober Pedy.
For Eileen Brown, it brought back fearful memories. As a young woman she was affected by fall-out from the British atom bomb test at Emu Junction on October 15, 1953.
“Westward we noticed the smoke when the sun was going down. We were all watching the sun going down funny. We thought the farmers were burning stumps, cleaning them up…We could see the light clear. Smelling a different smell…We got up in the morning from the tent…
“Everyone had red eyes. Right here the smoke caught us, it came over us. Us lot…We tried to open our eyes in the morning but we couldn’t open them. We had red eyes and tongues and our coughing was getting worse.”
Eileen Crombie described the Kungkas’ reaction to the news of the nuclear waste dump.
“We went wild. Straight out we said wanti - leave it. We were all saying it must be deadly poison if they want to bring it all the way over here, and we were frightened properly.”
Frightened or not, the Kungkas determined to oppose the dump. They formed a new group for that very purpose – Irati Wanti (“The poison – leave it!”) and campaigned vigorously with allies and friends in the environmental and trade union movements for the next six years. They travelled interstate and overseas to fight the government and were ultimately successful. In recognition of their efforts, the Kungkas won the prestigious international Goldman Prize in 2003 as “environmental heroes”.
In the same year, Eileen Brown was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community “through the preservation, revival and teaching of traditional Aṉangu culture and as an advocate for Indigenous communities in Central Australia”.
Eileen Unkari Crombie and Eileen Kampakuta Brown leave an inspiring legacy of respect for one’s birth right and of struggle against oppressive and unjust decision-making.
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