“I was so overwhelmed and so was the family. I just cried all the way through I was that proud of her,” Janice said.
She took every opportunity to act as a voice for not only her people, but for the animals, water and land.
A mother to 13 children, beloved grandmother of 51 grandchildren, great-grandmother of 64 – all have inherited Eileen’s love for Country.
“She was a very humble lady. She taught us everything like going out in the bush and catching our own wild bush tucker,” Janice said.
“Her beliefs have been passed through the family. Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, aunties and uncles. Everyone has got a keen interest in environmental protection.”
Living her life in the South Australian desert, Eileen experienced first-hand the effects of the British atomic bomb tests at Emu Fields in the 1950s and dedicated most of her life to advocate for the injustice she witnessed.
She is also famed for her daring protest at Cane Grass Swamp in the 1980s after uranium was discovered at Roxby Downs.
Eileen put her body on the line, laying in front of bulldozers to protest construction of the Olympic Dam uranium mine.
Soon after, she became a key member of the Kupa Piti Kungka tjuta, a council of senior Aboriginal women dedicated to the protection of land and culture.
in the 1990s Eileen was instrumental in the fight against the federal government’s plan to build a nuclear waste dump in the SA desert and in 2003 she was the recipient of the International Goldman Award for Protection of Environment.
This prestigious prize has been dubbed the ‘greenie Nobel Prize’.
With many other notable achievements under he belt, Eileen will be remembered by friends, family and the wider community for her leadership, love of culture and “unstoppable passion for a nuclear free world”.
The Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, including Eileen Wani Wingfield, were the recipients of the CCSA’s “Jill Hudson Award for Environmental Protection” in the year 2000. The reasons for getting the award are listed below:
• For their campaign against the proposed nuclear waste dumps.
This campaign has included effort at the local, State and national levels.
They have involved local, national, and international media, including radio, TV, newspapers and the internet.
They have lobbied Coober Pedy Council members, politicians and Government ministers.
They have educated other aboriginal women from the area and from adjoining areas.
• For their collaboration with the environment movement in opposing the proposed nuclear dumps.
They have collaborated with individual environmentalists and with organizations such as the CCSA, FoE and the ACF.
• For their exposure of the effects of the Maralinga and Emu nuclear tests on the health and culture of Aboriginal People.
• For their participation in Kevin Buzzacott’s Walk for Peace from Lake Eyre South via Canberra to Sydney; the Kungka’s travelled by train to join Kevin in Sydney.
Whilst in Sydney they visited the nuclear facility at Lucas Heights and met with members of the local shire Council over the issues of nuclear waste and the proposed nuclear reactor for Lucas Heights.
• For their inspiration to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
• For the extreme adversity which they have overcome, in their daily lives, in their travels, in dealing with governments, and in dealing with the global nuclear industry.
• For the high priority that they give to protecting country, culture and future generations.
2018 was the 20th anniversary of this award.