1.

There are many differences between the Noongar and the colonists in regards to
their everyday life. One of the main differences that I saw was the brotherhood
and the sharing among the Noongar people, while it seemed that it was every man
for themselves with the colonists. One example of this is towards the end of the
book when you see the change of heart in Menak. At the beginning of the book,
Menak is lighthearted and is always making Bobby laugh. Towards the end of the
book, the colonists have been in King George Town for around 15 years and the
Noongar people, especially Menak, are tired of their selfishness and destruction of
their land. Menak demonstrates the foundation of the Noongar brotherhood
because he is overheard by Jak Tar saying, no more whales. No more ships.
No more white men (pg. 298). Essentially, Menak wants things to go back to
how they used to be, when it was just the Noongars living in King George Town,
surviving by eating Kangaroos and sharing with one another. There was no King
amongst them. They all look at each other as equals and as family. On the other
hand, there always seemed to be a top dog when it came to the colonists (Geordie
Chaine). I believe that this in itself created separation amongst the colonists
because it always meant that individuals were working for someone else, rather
than working as a unit. One of the examples of the colonists having an every
man for himself mindset was when Jak Tar absconded from the ship that he was
on. Another example is with Jeffery and James when they ran away shot Killam
and ran away from their group, which consisted of Killam, Chaine and Bobby.
Both of these examples show that the colonists were not a brotherhood and they
clearly demonstrate the selfishness of individuals within the colonist group.
Furthermore, the Noongar viewed nature as a part of who they are and treated it
with great respect, while the colonists viewed nature as an opportunity to make
money. One example this is when Bobby begins to make songs while steering the
boat during the whale hunts. The book tells us that his songs never had anything
to do with the spilling of blood or the killing of whales. Rather, they were just
about the thrill of going on the hunt. It is also said that Bobby would never kill a
whale but he would just help steer the boat. This shows how much respect Bobby
had for the whales and it is evident that this was a general view amongst the

Noongar people. The colonists had no problem whatsoever with killing whales
because they knew that by catching whales, they could make money. This was
clearly the general view amongst all of the colonists. In regards to gender, the
male was clearly the dominant figure from the colonists perspective. This can be
backed by the fact that there were only 3 colonist women mentioned in the entire
book (Mrs. Cross, Mrs. Chaine, and Christine). Mrs. Chaine was responsible for
teaching Bobby and her children how to read and write and the men performed
manual labor. The Noongar viewed women as equals to the men. This is
demonstrated by the absence of shame that they felt with both men and women
being pretty much completely naked. They played an equal role in keeping the
Noongar civilization like a well-oiled machine. The women definitely cooked
more than the men and they also helped out with translating for the men (pg. 227).
The men hunted much more than the women. It seems that the colonist men
would have been able to easily survive without the women around them and it
seems like without women, it would have been much more difficult to survive for
the Noongar men. In regards to marriage, the colonists were very particular about
making sure that they were married to someone who measured up to a certain
standard. One example of this is how it was arranged for the Governors son,
Hugh, to marry Christine. With both of them being white and with them coming
from highest-class families in all of King George Town, it was only right for them
to get married. For the Noongar people, men would help take care of little girls as
they were growing up so that when the girl is of age, the man can marry her.
Sometimes this would not work out because the man would die before they could
get married. Obviously, these were two very conflicting viewpoints of marriage
between the Noongar people and the colonists. These differences led to conflict
because it seemed that Bobby ended up developing a crush on Christine when
they were young. As they got older, these feelings didnt go away. When Hugh
came into the picture, it seemed that Mr. Chaine became much more protective of
Christine because he sensed that Bobby was coming on to her. I believe that this
added to the diminishment of the relationship between Bobby and Mr. Chaine.
With all of that being said, this book is a great demonstration of globalization

because it shows the dynamic between the Noongar people (who represent
indigenous groups across the world) and the colonists (who represent America
and modernized culture). The idea that the colonists come onto the Noongars
land and begin to take complete control of it is a metaphor for the way that
indigenous groups have been treated throughout history. After coming into King
George Town, the colonists slowly but surely destroy the Noongar peoples mores
and traditions, and they force them to either assimilate into the colonists way of
living. This book challenges the reader to expand their thinking of indigenous
groups and shows you how indigenous people have deep values that do not need
to be pushed to the side. I think that Kim Scott did a very good job of getting this
message across because I felt convicted by the end of the book. After reading
That Deadman Dance, I feel that I have a heightened sense of awareness and
respect for indigenous groups in the world and I am definitely curious to learn
more.
2. There are many examples in book where Kim Scott paints a picture in my mind
and I can vividly visualize the setting that he is portraying. With these settings
being clearly portrayed, the reader gets the sense that the Noongar people
appreciate and respect the land much more than the colonists do. One of the finest
examples of this is in a letter that Bobby wrote to Dr. Cross wife of page 150. In
the letter, Bobby is describing to Mrs. Cross about how he encountered a colonist
who he calls Mr. Godley (I had a tough time understanding who Mr. Godley was
maybe the Governor??). He describes a conversation that he had with Mr.
Godley where he says, The rocks and stones I told him are the beauty of the
place and he laugh and speak very big and loud. This just shows how Bobby, a
Noongar, appreciates King George Town for its nature and the colonists could
pretty much care less about it. Another example of the Noongar people caring
about nature is on page 43 when the book describes how Wooral sometimes
addresses the bushes in an affectionate manner. This is yet another example of the
Noongar people appreciating and loving the land in which they live upon. On the
same page, Skelly, a colonist, looks ahead and almost seems bothered by the
nature surrounding him because it didnt compare with the land that he was used

to on his manor. Aside from the perspectives on land from the colonists and the
Noongar people, there are also some vivid pictures that Kim Scott is able to paint
in the readers mind. For me, one of the most memorable setting descriptions is
when Bobby, Chaine, Worral, Skelly, and Killam have to sleep in the rain (pg. 46).
I remember reading this and being able to actually feel how uncomfortable it must
have been for them as they were lying in a puddle with their noses dripping,
adding to the puddles depth. There was also many times where Scott painted a
picture in my mind by describing the setting when the colonists and Noongar
people were hunting whales. One of the most vivid pictures he painted was on
page 222 when he described the hot blood of the whales raining up the sailors as a
harpoon was driven through them. On the same page, we also see another
example of the attitudes of the Noongar people towards animals versus the
attitudes of the colonists. Scott describes Bobby groaning when he thought he had
heard a whale groan. Scott then goes on to say that the sickly sailors were madewell again after they saw the raining blood falling upon them. This shows how the
Noongar people deeply cared about animals and shared a spiritual relationship
with them, while the colonists were pleasured by the death of animals. This ties
into the notions of personhood that we talked about in class because it reminds us
that while we do things such as tear down land or kill animals, we need to be
aware of the value that indigenous cultures place upon these things. If we are
sensitive to the personhood and the individuality of all indigenous groups and
their values, we could potentially eliminate the destruction and unintentional
(although it is sometimes intentional) removal of these precious cultures.
3. With perspectives of multiple characters being offered throughout the novel, I
think it makes the book a little more difficult to understand. This is because the
reader is constantly going back and forth through the consciences of different
people without almost any explanation. That being said, it is very tough to
understand exactly what you are reading and why you are reading it. This goes on
for the duration of the book. However, by looking at context clues, the reader is
sometimes able to draw the connection to see whos perspective they are reading
from and this allows for them to see the opposing viewpoints of the land, animals,

and people between the Noongar and the colonists. From the Noongar people, you
learn throughout the novel (specifically from Menak around pg. 298) that the
colonists were very invasive and authoritative. Throughout the novel, you can see
from Noongar perspectives that they would have preferred to keep their
traditional way of life, without the colonists coming in and successfully changing
the entire face of their culture. On the other hand, the insight of the colonists
perspectives lead the reader to believe that they looked at their group of people as
a superior group compared to the Noongar people. One example of this
superiority mindset of the colonists is the fact that there was no chance that
Chaine would ever let Christina marry Bobby. Rather, he wanted his daughter to
marry someone of his own kind because he saw someone like Bobby as unfit and
inferior compared to Hugh. Another example is in a letter that was written by the
Governor (pg. 335), which was addressed to Governor Steeling Sir. I am not
exactly sure who the Governor Steeling Sir is, but my guess is that it is someone
from Governor Spenders homeland. In the letter, he describes the multiple events
that recently had happened, where Bobby, Wooral, and Menak were stealing
goods out of Mr. Chaines storehouse. His request in the letter is that Governor
Steeling Sir takes whatever measures necessary to take the Noongar people off of
their land. There is one instance, however, where we see a sympathetic viewpoint
from colonist. This is on page 148, where Mrs. Chaine is spending time with
Bobby and reflecting on all of the loved ones that he had lost throughout his life.
She recognizes on this page how many of the Noongar people are dying simply by
the arrival of the colonists on the Noongar land. Aside from this one example, the
main theme of the perspectives of the colonists is that they see the Noongar
people as uncivilized and inferior nuisances. They are said to be invasive, coming
into their huts without knocking and the way that they dress do not meet up to
colonists preconceived standards. Similarly, from the Noongar perspective, we
can see that the colonists are also invasive, coming into King George Town with
no regard or concern for the Noongar culture and requiring that the Noongar
people assimilate to their way of life. Just as a side note, one of the things I
noticed in the novel was how the Noongar people were willing to adopt the

culture of the colonists (ex. wearing their clothes, speaking their native tongue,
etc.). Conversely and with the exception of Jak Tar and Dr. Cross, I noticed that
the colonists were almost all unwilling to adopt the culture of the Noongar people
and they were very steady and consistent in remaining with their own set of mores
and customs. This novel is different from the imperial narratives that we read in
class because in instances, such as the Columbus account, there was absolutely no
regard for the native groups whatsoever. In That Deadman Dance, the colonists
actually live amongst the Noongar people and do not completely murder the entire
population of these native peoples. Also, they did not have a clear idea of what
exactly they were coming to King George Town for, other than to make money. In
the Columbus account, Columbus and his men had one goal in mind: find gold.
With that being said, they were willing to kill and destroy anyone and anything
standing in their way, so they did exactly that. Although the colonists end up
discovering that hunting whales can be used as a great commodity, this was not
their initial reason for coming to King George Town. In the Kim Scott video, he
describes the relationship between the Noongar people and the British military as
a very friendly relationship. Clearly, this was very different than the genocide that
came from Columbus.
4. As described by Kim Scott, the Deadman Dance is a dance of reenactments of
particular things that have happened throughout the history of the Noongar
culture. In the video, Scott talks about how the Noongar people were encountered
by British military in the early 1800s. Throughout this encounter, the Noongar
people were exposed to military drills, which were said to be imitated by one of
the Noongar men. Hundreds of years later, there was an account of someone
seeing these same military drills still being repeated in dances by the Noongar
people. Therefore, the Deadman Dance is a dance that reenacts things that were
important in the history of the Noongar culture. On pages 51 and 52, there is a
description of the whaling ships that came to King George Town. These ships
were full of drunken sailors, stumbling all over the place and falling as the ship
was tossed to and fro by the waves. Later in the book, Bobby repeats this drunken
movement of the sailors and incorporates it into the Deadman Dance. Kim Scott

describes this dance by saying that the men participating in the dance painted
themselves in red ochre, with a white ochre on their thighs and calves, bare hands,
and a big white cross painted on their chest. Later in the book, the reader
discovers that this is because the dance is symbolic of the whalers (colonists)
coming to their land and radically changing the Noongar culture. The red ochre
represents the blood of the whales that covered the shirts of the whalers. The
white ochre on their thighs and calves represented the boots of the colonists.
Finally, the cross on their chest represents the religion (Christianity) of the
colonists that they so greatly tried to impress upon the Noongar people. This
dance gives the reader the idea that the Noongar people viewed the colonists as
very significant figures in their history. Although I am not completely sure, I
believe that this dance is called the Deadman Dance because it symbolizes how
the colonists unintentionally brought death upon many of the Noongar peoples,
simply by occupying their land. Just as Mrs. Chaine said, many of the Noongar
people were dying just by the colonists being there. I believe that the Deadman
Dance shows the colonists as antagonists in the history of the Noongar people,
judging by the fact that I rarely associate death with anything good. This ties into
the ability of indigenous groups ability to change in order to address new life
challenges because it shows how something, such as the drunken sailor dance, can
be incorporated with things from previous history. Bobby was able to add that part
of the dance without any of the Noongar people opposing it, which shows that
they are willing to adopt new ways of life and adapt to new experiences in order
to survive. Bobby can be considered a trickster because of his great ability of
imitating people and also because of the way he was able to put on a show for
people (such as the tourists). He could also be considered an agent of change
because by faking his death, he was able to unite Wunyeran and Cross as best
friends. Because of this friendship, the colonists remained in King George Town,
which ultimately led to the deterioration of the Noongar tribe. By helping unite
Cross and Wunyeran, Bobby unknowingly changed the face of the Noongar tribe
forever.