AddALL.com - Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land 052285205X 9780522852059

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.