Anohni Joins 110-Mile Desert Walk to Protest Uranium Mine
Anohni has joined an eight-day, 110-mile walk through the Western Australian desert to protest a uranium mine. On Instagram, the singer-songwriter labeled the planned construction a “threat to the …wellbeing” of the Martu, an Indigenous Australian people living in the region. The protest, which begins on Friday, will include over 100 Martu people from Parnngurr and neighboring communities.
Anohni has been advocating for the Martu since 2013, when she spent 10 days living among them. Following that experience, she has donated concert proceeds to the Martu, discussed their plight on television and performed at events raising awareness for the people, Pitchfork reports.
The mine, plotted by Cameco and Mitsubishi, has been approved by the federal government and will be located within 50 miles of the Martu community. “The proposed Kintyre mine is on their traditional lands … as well as being gouged out of Karlamilyi National Park,” Anohni writes in a statement.
The musician spoke to The Guardian about the mine issue last year.
“For the Martu in Parnngurr, the community nearest the proposed uranium mine, the plan is causing distress,” she said. “Some of the women elders of Parnngurr seem not only to fear the potential danger that any uranium mine will obviously pose to the watershed and the local environment, but they also feel an existential burden of responsibility as the stewards of that land to protect dangerous resources from being exploited.”
Anohni, the mastermind of Antony and the Johnsons, released her debut solo LP, Hopelessness, in May.