Tuan Anh Bui

That Dead Man Dance: Final Exam questions

1. The colonist life style is motivated by greed and profits while the Noongars are based on
harmony. The colonists see land for their taking, which was the reason why they travel to set up a
settlement in Australia. Dr. Cross, for example, was with the first group of colonist to settle King
George Town and was looking for a new place to live with his family. They believe that they own
the land by the powers of the Crown, even though the Noongars do not recognize their
government and their land has been passed down from generations of Noongars. The colonists
not only own land, but they own people too. They used slavery to help build the settlement up at
the beginning. The Noongars however, do how own slaves. In Noongar culture, marriage is not
based on love, but a promise usually by and older man to a young girl. A man would bring food
to the baby girls family, whom he is to marry when she grows of age, and would look after the
family until the marriage. However, if the man dies before the girl grows up, she is promised to
another man. They are also able to have multiple wives, with Menak having two. A colonist, Jak
Tar, even followed Noongar culture when he married, Binyan, a Noongar. There were no class
status among the Noongars, they were all seen as equals, even when comparing themselves to the
colonist and nature. The colonists on the other hand, had a class hierarchy. The power was in the
hands of the wealth, the Chaine family, Dr. Cross, and the Governor. The lower class people,
such as the slaves and criminals, such as convict Skelley, were the ones who did the hard labor
such has construction and whaling. There was also divide among race too, as the colonists seeing
themselves superior because they are white seeing the black Noongars are salvages. The men
were the ones tasked with doing the hard and dangerous labor, such as hunting, whaling, and
construction, while the women stuck to more medial task such as gardening. The differing
lifestyles conflict when the colonist try to expand their colony, spread their ideals and enforce
their laws, and be disrespectful to the Noongars habits. The colonist teaches Christianity to the
Noongars, particularly Wunyeran and Bobby, by setting up Sunday church services and having
them read Bible stories. The colonist even teach the natives English, even giving Bobby and
English name. They force the Noongars, who are normally naked except for kangaroo skin, to
cover up and wear clothes when they enter the settlement. A major source of conflict is when the
colonists sheep, sugar, and biscuits gets stolen by the Noongars, since the Noongars see that it
belongs to everyone and do not recognize the colonists property. The Noongar would eventually
get sick of the treatment they received, from the colonist taking all the resources and enforcing

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their own rules, which results in conflict between the two. The novel is an example of
globalization in that the colonists travel to a new land and tries to integrate the natives into their
world view, by enforcing their laws and beliefs, as mention above.

2. The Europeans view the land as property and a way to make money, and therefore exploit it.
They had no regards for the land or the animals and people on it. They see the land as a way to
make a living, while the Noongars sees it as a way to live. The colonists would take more than
they would need, which is why more towns spring up, as their desire for more land increases.
They will also over fish and hunt, to further increase their profits. This results in the whales
disappearing and low food for the Noongars later in the novel. The Noongar for example, take
only what they need to survive, as nature is a source of life to them. Kim Scott is very descriptive
in describing nature, he can portray the beauty and the dangers just through the setting. A
memorial moment for me in the novel occurs in the chapter Over the Horizon page 192, when
George, Jeffrey, James, and Skelley are on Skelleys built boat and they face bad waves. The way
Scott describes the violent nature of the ocean waves and wind, there is a sense of danger for the
characters as the storm strands them on an unknown island. The paragraph following then
describes the calm blue skies and calm sea, a juxtaposition to the storm the characters faced. This
scene was memorable as it showed the deadly nature of nature and then quickly switched to the
calm, peace, and beauty of it all. The Noongars believe that they are related to all living things.
An example, on page 276, Manit says that the Noongars are brothers to the whales. Thus, they
treat animals kindly and reuses the skin of animals for clothing and the bones for jewelry. The
British views animals as a source of food and income. They raise livestock and whale for
income. They kill whales only for oil and meat, discarding the bones on the beaches. They would
eventually kill enough kangaroos and whales, that there is a food shortage for the natives. The
Noongars has an animistic view of the animals. They believe that the animals have a spirt. They
believe that when an animal or person dies, they must release the spirit. In the novel Bobby
actually releases the spirit of a dead whale. He has some kind of mystic connection to nature.
3. From a narrative stand point, having multiple points of view and various time shifts gives the
reader omniscient knowledge of character actions and events. The reader really gets to
understand the characters motivation for their actions and not judge and event from one

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perspective. An example of this is when Menak spears Skelley at the beginning of the novel.
Looking at what happens form Skelleys point of view, Menak and the Noongar people appear to
be violent salvages. However, when you see the other side of the story, from Menaks point of
view, you can justify his actions because of what the colonist did to him prior, kidnap him and
killed one of the members of his tribe. From the British perspective, the reader learns the dire
situation that the colonists are in at the beginning. The colonists are low on people and do not
have the resources to sustain themselves. They have to rely on the natives to survive. To the
Noongar, it just appears that the colonists just wants to be friends. The novel is different of the
Columbus accounts because it presents the story from the Noongars perspective as well. While
the Columbus story is very similar to that of the settlers, it does not tell the stories of the natives,
since they were on the losing side.
4. The Deadmans Dance is a dance that consists of stiff and jerky movements. It is performed
together as a group and lead by a leader. The participants would cover their body with paint.
Their torso and arms would be painted red, leaving their hands bare. While their thighs would be
painted white, leaving their calves and feet bare, similar to boots. A white cross would also be
painted on each participants chest. Each dancer carries an emus leg sized stick and stands an
arms length away from each other and all move in unison, following the leader. The dance
signifies the settlers coming from across the oceans horizon, bringing with them their differing
views. This reveals that the Noongars view the colonists as the same, not different, and the
willingness to live together, as one. It is called Deadman because the moves are like a Deadman
coming back to life, and being of one will. The Noongar has many dances and celebrations
before the Deadmans Dance. They were able to create the dance to address the new colonist who
arrived over the ocean. Bobby, himself was only able to master the dance when he tried to
reposition Wunyerans dead body and mimic the movements it made. Bobby is an agent for
change as he grows up learning the culture of both the colonist and the Noongars, and is able to
help bridge the barrier between the two groups. Even though he is a Noongar, Bobby spent his
childhood growing up with Dr. Cross and the Chaine family. From them is where he received his
English name, learned to read and write, and even how to whale. He befriends the colonists and
is able to help the colonist and the Noongar live peacefully together, at least in the beginning.
The Noongars helped the colonists by providing hands to help start out the colony, provided

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them food, and even helped during whaling season. Bobbys friendliest to both sides however,
ultimately results in him becoming a trickster in the end when he is forced to pick a side to help.
He does this by using the trust that he has built up with the colonists to trick them, so that the
Noongar people could steal their food. Bobby is able to use his superhuman powers in
storytelling, impersonation, dancing, and nature to deceive people.