Alice Springs says No! to a uranium mine at Angela Pamela. Listen to WIYA! Angela Pamela online for free at www.superraelenebrothers.com.au Watch the WIYA! Angela Pamela launch on YouTube. As public opposition grows in Alice Springs to a radioactive mine at the nearby Angela Pamela uranium deposit, well known local band the Super Raelene Bros have teamed up with Western Arrarnta and Luritja musicians – ‘the Little Sisters Collective’ – to release their debut single WIYA! Angela Pamela. This unique single is performed in Luritja and Western Arrarnta, with a smattering of English, scattered across a deep funk groove. Basil Schild, singer with the Super Raelene Bros said “When the seasonal dust-storms blow from the south, the southern town camps of Anthepe, Karnte, and Ilparpa are likely to be the first to breathe radioactive nucleides carried by the dust and wind.”
“In the Pitjantjatjara and Luritja languages ‘WIYA!’ means ‘NO!’ and that is what Alice Springs people, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, say about a uranium mine so close to their homes.” The Angela Pamela uranium deposit lies just over 10kms from Alice Springs urban areas. Canadian mining company Cameco have been undertaking exploratory drilling on the site with a view to mining uranium for export. Ingkarta Simon Dixon from the Little Sisters Collective said “We don’t want this mine. It will be no good for the health of people in the southern town camps. People in town camps have a very hard life already. They don’t need to worry about getting sick from uranium.” Christobel Swan, matriarch of the Southern Arrarnta Pertame people, who also performs on the single, said “We are worried about the health of our children. If something goes wrong, white people can go back to wherever they came from, but where are Aboriginal people going to go? This is the only place we have.”
Jess Abrahams from the Arid Lands Environment Centre said, “We stand behind local Aboriginal people who are singing out against the threat this mine poses to the health of Alice Springs.” “Cameco likes to talk up the supposed benefits uranium mining brings to Indigenous people, but Cameco should listen to local Aboriginal people who say ‘Wiya!’ or ‘No’ to a uranium mine at Angela Pamela.” “This song celebrates the growing chorus of opposition to a uranium mine at Angela-Pamela. With nationwide airplay WIYA! Angela Pamela will take the No Alice Uranium Mine campaign to the national stage.” Basil and Derek Schild from Super Raelene Bros. with Ingkarta Simon Dixon and Arranta Matriach Christobel Swan from the Little Sisters Collective. Community Stops Angela Pamela Uranium Mine. 28 Sept 2010.