Robert Tonkinson (born 1938, died 2024) was a retired Australian Social Anthropologist. He was born in Perth, Western Australia. He was appointed to his Chair as Professor of Anthropology in 1984 [1] to succeed the Foundation Professor of Anthropology, Professor Ronald M. Berndt University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 1963–1981 and, on his retirement, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, West Australia.
Tonkinson received a Master of Arts for his thesis "Social structure and acculturation of Aborigines in the Western Desert" from the University of Western Australia, and a PhD with his thesis "Da:wajil : a Western Desert Aboriginal rainmaking ritual", from the University of British Columbia.
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.
In 1973–1975, following an assistant professorship at the University of Oregon, Tonkinson and his wife Dr Myrna Tonkinson[2] conducted studies with Aboriginal people of the Western Desert, under grants from the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.[3]
Myrna Tonkinson was closely associated with the Cobourg Peninsula Land Claim of 1979, with Nicolas Peterson supplying anthropological material in support of the claim.[4]
Tonkinson was Editor of Anthropological Forum from 2000 to 2011.