Robert Tonkinson

Robert "Bob" Tonkinson (1938 – 6 June 2024) was an Australian social anthropologist. He was known for his studies of desert people in Western Australia, and was chair of anthropology at the University of Western Australia.

Early life and education

Robert Tonkinson was born in 1938.[1][2]

He studied anthropology with Ronald and Catherine Berndt at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in the 1960s. Soon after graduating with a bachelor's degree, he joined ethnographic filmmaker Ian Dunlop as an advisor on his first trip filming Martu people of the Western desert in 1965. The resulting film became part of a 19-part series of films made over six years, called People of the Australian Western Desert.[3] In 1966, Dunlop edited four parts of the series to create a 49-minute film called Desert People, which went on to win several international awards.[4]

Tonkinson received a Master of Arts from UWA in 1966 for his thesis "Social structure and acculturation of Aborigines in the Western Desert" from UWA.[5]

Undertaking further studies and work in Canada,[6] he earned a PhD with his thesis "Da:wajil : a Western Desert Aboriginal rainmaking ritual",[7] from the University of British Columbia.[8]

Career

Upon return to Australia, Tonkinson worked at the Australian National University.[6] He undertook a large amount of field research at Jigalong and in the Western Desert in Western Australia, as well as on the islands of Vanuatu.[6]

He was appointed professor of anthropology at UWA in 1984[6] to succeed, Ronald Berndt, foundation professor of anthropology. On 23 April 1987, Tonkinson presented Berndt with an honorary of Doctor of Letters.[9]

On his retirement, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at UWA.[6]

Tonkinson is well-known for his contribution to Australian Aboriginal Studies but he is equally renowned for his work in the arena of Melanesian Studies—particularly in the application of kastom in the contemporary context.[10]

In 1973–1975, following an assistant professorship at the University of Oregon, Tonkinson and his wife Dr Myrna Tonkinson[11] conducted studies with Aboriginal people of the Western Desert, under grants from the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.[12]

Myrna Tonkinson was closely associated with the Cobourg Peninsula Land Claim of 1979, with Nicolas Peterson supplying anthropological material in support of the claim.[13]

Tonkinson was editor of Anthropological Forum from 2000 to 2011.[14]

Personal life and death

Tonkinson married Myrna.[1]

He died on 6 June 2024 at Osborne Park Hospital in the Perth suburb of Osborne Park, after having developed dementia for some years previously, at the age of 87. A memorial was held for him on 11 June 2024.[1]

Publications

  • Tonkinson, Robert (1968) Maate village, Efate: a relocated community in the New Hebrides Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon
  • Tonkinson, Robert (1973) Aboriginal Victors of the Desert Crusade Cummings ISBN 0846575493
  • Tonkinson, Robert (1991) The Mardu aborigines : living the dream in Australia's desert Holt, Rinehart and Winston ISBN 0030322820
  • Tonkinson, Robert (editor) (2015) The Wentworth Lectures: Honouring Fifty Years of Australian Indigenous Studies Aboriginal Studies Press ISBN 9781922059734

References

  1. ^ a b c "Obituary for Robert (Bob) Tonkinson (1938‐2024)". The Australian Journal of Anthropology. 36 (1): 116–122. 2025. doi:10.1111/taja.70011. ISSN 1035-8811. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  2. ^ "Tonkinson, Robert (1938-)", Trove, retrieved 26 December 2025
  3. ^ Henley, Paul (23 January 2020). "The invisible author: Films of re-enactment in the post-war period". Beyond observation. doi:10.7765/9781526147295.00011. Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025 – via manchesterhive.com.
  4. ^ Dunlop, Ian (2003). "People of the Australian Western Desert, Parts 1-19; and Desert People" (PDF). Includes notes by Ian Dunlop, dated March 2003. NFSA. pp. 1–33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2025. Retrieved 25 December 2025. Background notes on a series of films on Western Desert culture produced by the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, filmed in 1965 and 1967.
  5. ^ Tonkinson, Robert; University of Western Australia. Department of Anthropology (1966), Social structure and acculturation of Aborigines in the Western Desert, retrieved 19 September 2023
  6. ^ a b c d e "Bob Tonkinson". UWA Collected. 1 January 1984. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  7. ^ Tonkinson, Robert (1972), Da:wajil : a Western Desert Aboriginal rainmaking ritual, retrieved 19 September 2023
  8. ^ Stanton, John; University of Western Australia. Department of Anthropology (1984), Conflict, change and stability at Mt Margaret: an Aboriginal community in transition, retrieved 3 September 2024
  9. ^ "Professor Robert Tonkinson presenting Professor Ronald Murray Berndt the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters". UWA. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 4 August 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  10. ^ Taylor & Francis (2013), Robert Tonkinson’s Research Publications, retrieved 3 September 2024
  11. ^ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 15, 503. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 February 1978. p. 20. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Escape from the Sick Society". The Canberra Times. Vol. 48, no. 13, 581. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 November 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Cobourg Peninsula Land Claim No. 6". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Half century of anthropology news". UWA Impact: The University of Western Australia. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2025.

Further reading

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