The Donald Thomson Ethnohistory Collection, a UNESCO-inscribed archive offering rare insights into Indigenous Australian culture, has been entrusted to the University of Melbourne by the family of Professor Donald Thomson.

This significant donation unifies Professor Thomson's extensive fieldwork and honours his lifelong dedication to advocating for Indigenous rights and cultural preservation.

University of Melbourne Associate Provost and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Marcia Langton AO, underscored the profound importance of the collection.

"The Donald Thomson Collection is an expression of the continuum of Aboriginal life, culture, and traditions," Professor Langton said.

"It is of immense significance to the Aboriginal peoples whose ancestors made the cultural material and informed Thomson of its meaning.

"Its value to researchers in Australia and internationally, concerned with understanding human diversity, cannot be underestimated."

The collection, which documents more than 90 Indigenous communities, includes 11,000 photographs, 25,000 feet of film, and 2,500 pages of meticulously recorded field notes.

It complements the Ethnographic Collection's 7,500 objects and artworks, including some of the earliest and finest bark paintings in existence.

Together, they form one of the most detailed cultural archives ever assembled.

Born in 1901 and passing in 1970, Professor Thomson was a pioneering anthropologist, herpetologist, zoologist and human rights advocate, best known for his peace efforts between the Yolŋu people and the federal government in northeast Arnhem Land.

His holistic approach to documenting Indigenous life earned him global recognition, though his outspoken advocacy often made him unpopular in Australia during his lifetime.

Professor Thomson's daughters, Elaine Thomson and Louise Thomson-Officer, spoke about their father's legacy in a heartfelt joint statement.

"He advocated strongly for Indigenous people to be allowed to continue their way of life away and free from white Australia's interference when many in his field believed in assimilation," they said.

"A man far ahead of his time, his efforts to document Indigenous culture, for which he had the utmost respect, and his vocal outcry about atrocities perpetrated by churches and governments, meant he was not popular in Australia during his lifetime.

"The Queensland Government even banned him from the state after he exposed the ruthless treatment of Aboriginal people that took place at Aurukun Mission – images and field notes of these incidents are included in the collection.

"Throughout his life, he received far more recognition from his overseas peers than in Australia. While he died feeling that he had failed, our father would be so pleased to know that his legacy has helped return land and sea to Ancestral Owners who have relied on his work to prove connection to country in Arnhem Land, Central Australia, and far north Queensland, including more than 362,000 hectares of land in Cape York."

Professor Thomson's daughters said they were glad to see their father's work "finally being given the recognition it deserves".

"There is no other collection like this in the world, and we have entrusted the University of Melbourne, which has the resources to ensure its care and preservation, with its custodianship," they said.

"Our intention is that generations of Indigenous Australians can continue to use it for land and sea claims, to learn more about their own culture, to help revive practices such as bushcraft and native languages, and in turn for all Australians to gain a greater appreciation of our nation's more than 65,000-year history."

In reflecting on his lasting impact, acclaimed Yolŋu artist, Dr Djambawa Marawili AM said Professor Thomson "was a great man".

"When he came to Caledon Bay and Trial Bay, he showed the people there that he genuinely wanted to learn about Yolŋu art and culture," Dr Marawili said.

"They did not really know how to explain it to him except through their art. Before then, the art was sacred and secret and only for that clan.

"He brought it into the open so that the second and third generation post-contact people exercised and shared their art too. So when our generation saw this, we got into it and took it even further.

"It is fantastic that he made a future pathway for us younger generations to carry the law into the present and beyond.

"We think about him every day and use these resources all the time. We are grateful to his family for sharing his legacy with the world."

In addition to its cultural and historical significance, the collection has had practical implications for land and sea claims, helping to restore land to its Traditional Owners.

The University of Melbourne plans to create a dedicated space for Indigenous art and culture on its Parkville campus, incorporating a Donald Thomson Collection Study Centre, to enable research and community access.

Several items will also be displayed in the exhibition 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, opening at the Potter Museum of Art in 2025.

The exhibition, curated by Professor Langton, Judith Ryan AM, and Shanysa McConville, will consult with Indigenous communities to ensure respectful representation.

Professor Su Baker AM thanked Elaine Thomson and Louise Thomson-Officer for their generous gift, calling the Donald Thomson Collection "a cultural resource of national and international distinction" that supports reconciliation and learning with Indigenous communities.