Kim Scott is not just one of Australia's pre-eminent authors; he is also one of the best known indigenous authors, a descendant of the Noongar Aborigines of Western Australia. The name "Noongar" does not refer to a specific group of aboriginal people, but to many groups who inhabit the Noongar region, including Ballardong, Yued and Wardandi Aborigine
The Deadman Dance is Scott's third novel and was published in 2010 in Australia. It was not published internationally until two years later. It is set in the early nineteenth century, and focusrs on the early meetings between Aborigines, European settlers and American whalers in the Albany region of Western Australia. Scott's protagonist is a young Noongar may named Bobby Wabalinginy, who is initially keen to welcome the newcomers and to work alongside them, but the three way harmony between the group quickly sours. The Europeans decide that they need to lay down the law harder than ever to make sure that the new colony progresses in the way that they envisage. The Noongar people want to retaliate and defend their way of life and their land. Bobby is a friend to everyone and stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to selecting sides. The novel highlights the difficulties and injustices that occurred as a result of the early days of colonization and the way in which the influx of white settlers irrevocably changed life for the indigenous people, both for good and for bad.
The Deadman Dance was an immediate hit with critics and the recipient of a large number of awards, the most prestigious of which, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book - South East Asia and the Pacific, awarded to Scott in 2011.
