Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land

This collection presents the personal writings of Donald Thomson, an Australian who became embroiled in a bitter legal battle that erupted in 1932 when a group of Japanese pearl fishermen raped a number of Aboriginal women. Arnhem Land Aboriginals retaliated by killing five of the Japanese and were subsequently sentenced to death. Thomson accepted a federal commission to investigate the case, and, by communicating with the Aboriginals, managed to defuse the situation and secure their liberation. The account of Thomson’s first meeting with the Aboriginal leader Wongo tells of the electric exchange and eventual friendship that Thomson developed with Wongo, a partnership that enabled him to study local customs and language. Thomson’s writing is unique in that it offers a full picture of Aboriginal peoples, presenting them as individuals and active agents in local history.