Exploration through “ Dyche ” : An Indigenous Study of Yoikana and That Deadman Dance

Dyche, deals with analysing the psyche of the Dalit – “Dyche” to redefine Dalit community and empower the victimised psyche of Dalit. The exploration of Dalit historiography and psychology through Dyche substantiates that there is cultural, spiritual and psychological uniformity among Dalits and other Indigenous people of the globe. Hence exploration through “Dyche” towards one’s culture, tradition and identity could edify the cause of psychical wounds and thus could facilitate deliverance to indigenous communities from their marginal predicament and bring back harmony. This paper attempts to apply some features of Dyche, the practical Dalit psyche theory, for studying Dalits, Sami people of Norway and Noongar people of Australian Aborigines and to explore their common life experiences, ethos and common self-assertion for liberation with reference to Indian Dalit writer M.C. Raj’s novel, Yoikana and Australian Aboriginal writer Kim Scott’s novel, That Deadman Dance. The paper also endeavours to differentiate between migrant psyche and indigenous psyche and discuss the compensatory mechanisms “Moralising” and “Open Rebellion” adopted by the Oppressor and the Oppressed respectively in their negotiation with the “other.”


INTRODUCTION
"There are many worlds within the world.One of them is the Adijan world just as there are many worlds of indigenous peoples all over the world" (Dyche,p. 89).
Dyche, the book co-authored by Raj and Jyothi gives new dimension to the study of Dalits by focusing on the psyche of Dalits -"Dyche" -from the authors' personal experience.Dyche, can be seen as one of the pioneering works on indigenous Dalit psychology from Dalit historical perspective amidst a vast majority of study by mainstream critics, who obviously, overshadow the Dalit and Tribal perspective of Indian sub-continent.It is evident that the main stream critics' attempt is only "a blatant and unethical attempt at establishing as Indian what can be easily termed as Hindu" (Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 33).Hence Dyche, The Dalit Psyche: A Science of Dalit Psychology acts as a therapy for the Indian Indigenous communities like Dalits and Adivasis who have been excluded for ages by the dominant forces.The authors' mention of Dalit people as indigenous people of India and their reasoning for the subjugation of these communities due to the migrant race or "alien race called the Aryans" (Raj 2011, p. 24), give positive assurance to compare Dalit people to other Indigenous people who faced oppression by 'other' migrant races all around the globe.The present paper attempts to examine two representative works of recent times -That Deadman Dance (2010), a novel by Australian Aboriginal writer Kim Scott, and Yoikana (2011) a novel by Dalit writer and activist M.C.Raj through the lens of Dyche with the chief focus on exploring the similarities among Indigenous people and their discrepancy with their migrant counterparts.In the novel Yoikana Raj brings out the similarities in tradition, plight, struggle, resistance and sacrifice among Indian Dalit and Sami people of Norway.In order to further strengthen the theory, an endeavour has been made to analyse yet another indigenous community, Noongars of Australia through Kim Scott's novel, That Deadman Dance, taking into consideration only their predicament due to dominant forces, irrespective of their geographical position or reason for discrimination, i.e., caste, creed or race.As rightly averred: Dalit writings and Aboriginal writings bear considerable resemblance because, first, the predicament of Dalit in India and Aboriginals in Australia go together in the context of oppression; second, thematically human suffering because of social discrimination is similar in both writings; and thirdly and most importantly, the emotional worlds they inhabit-constituting their pain, rebellion, hope and desires-are similar though there is a lot of difference in the geographical background.(Kumar 2016, p. 8) DYCHE -AN OVERVIEW Raj and Jyothi (2008) posit "Dyche is the wounded psyche" (p.255).The authors assert that "what existed naturally in the present Dalit communities as psychological phenomena before the arrival of Aryans in India cannot be legitimately called Dyche as it was not a broken psyche".It was only after the arrival of the Aryans, there were, substantial changes in the psyche of the Dalits due to the domineering and oppressive measures adopted by the migrant race.Raj and Jyothi (2008) claim that "... an overbearing influence of dominant ways in an otherwise cosmic and eco people led to the breaking of certain dimensions of their psychological growth and well being" (p.255-256).It created a lasting impact on the psyche of the natives that they became broken people.They were disempowered from being people of "resurgent and proactive psyche" to people of "broken psyche" (Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 255).In the work, the authors deal with the Adijan psyche, the Migrant psyche, manifestations of the wounded Psyche, i,e., Dyche, the Angry Dyche, Compensating Dyche, the Healing of wounds , and Transforming Psyche.In other words, the authors attempt to trace the trajectory of oppression and analyse the psyche of the victims before and after the oppression in order to arrive at a therapeutic effect and heal the Dyche.The present paper ventures to study selected aspects of the Adijan psyche and the Migrant psyche and also elaborate on the compensatory mechanisms, Moralising and Open Rebellion adopted by the migrants and the indigenous communities respectively, as revealed in Yoikana and That Deadman Dance.

MIGRANTS IN INDIA AND AUSTRALIA
In India, Dalits have been considered as avarnas, who do not fall within the savarna system based on the four-caste division.They have been oppressed and ostracised by the Savarna society.T.K.Oommen captures the origin of caste system in India: The Aryans brought with them, or gradually evolved, a religion (Hinduism), a language ( Sanskrit) and a new social order and colour (varna) based stratification system, all of which are essential ingredients of the 'national' heritage today...The varna scheme, which divided population into five social categories -Brahmins, Kshatrias, Vaishyas, Shudras and the 'Untouchables'-based on social division of labour, had become the founding rock of the caste system which institutionalized inequality in India.That is, the immigrant Aryans got nativized and their cultural baggage became the 'national' heritage.But since it happened in the distant past and occurred gradually, the process appears to be, and has come to be, accepted as natural".
(qtd.Rathna 2014, p. 20-21) The role of Aryans in establishing the caste system is evident through Ramachandran who claims that it was "necessary to introduce one of the theories behind the inception of the Hindu caste system, which claims that it was the Aryans who invaded ancient India who introduced the concept of caste system" (Ramachandran 2014, p. 247).
Similarly in Australia, the White settlers proved themselves to be an aggressive nomadic race craving for dominance and power.They assumed the role as masters and started looking at the 'other' as inferior.They took up the right to rule the Aboriginal people and to control their land and space.Muecke and Shoemaker who traced the social and cultural history of the indigenous Australians have observed that The destiny of the Indigenous 'tribes' was forged as soon as the Europeans arrived with a terra nullius mentality.Impelled by the imperatives of colonization and development, they saw the country as a virgin land for their taking.The Indigenous people were chased off their lands, marginalised, and even poisoned and massacred.(Muecke & Shoemaker 2004, p. 55) The migrants asserted their supremacy through aggression.Muecke and Shoemaker (2004, p. 60) posit that the indigenous resistance "… was stopped by some of the most brutal and lawless paramilitary forces in the history of the country".Therefore, it can be perceived that the ideologies of the migrant races -Europeans and Brahmins are identical.i.e., to rule the 'other'.It is interesting to note the congruence in the approach they undertook to subjugate the indigenous people by implementing strict rules and stringent punishment on violation.Both the oppressors deprived the indigenous tribes their right to be on their own and their authority to live on their own space.

YOIKANA AND THAT DEADMAN DANCE -AN INTRODUCTION
Yoikana: The Romantic Revolution is a story of two young people, Veeran, a Dalit and Ramona, a Sami woman, from two different countries, India and Norway respectively.Ramona helps Veeran to do research in Norway, hence Veeran moves to Norway.In Norway, Veeran and Ramona start loving each other and their romantic liaison helps them to become familiar with each other's culture, predicament and the history of their struggles for freedom.They also uncover the similarities in their customs, their beliefs, and the kind of oppression faced because of the migrant communities.Then they return to India, and Ramona becomes the beloved of the Dalits and she takes up many struggles on their behalf.However, she has to return to Norway because of the schemes of Veeran's rival Kathir who joins hands with a caste landlord.Ramona becomes the President of the Sami parliament and becomes very famous.However, she is electrocuted in a hotel room in Argentina while attending an international conference.Madderakka, her daughter continues the fight her parents started to ensure that the Adijan community gets the recognition and dignity they deserve.Eventually, Veeran disappears into the woods and meets Ramona in the form of cosmic waves.Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance chronicles the contact between the Europeans and the Noongar people of Australia.It is a novel like Yoikana, which speaks about the exploitation of indigenous people and their struggle for rights in their own land.It also provides a great insight into the culture and way of life of Noongars, an Australian aboriginal community and white in the Australian continent.The story starts with the arrival of European settlers in the south coast of Western Australia where Noongars live.In the beginning of the white settlement, they maintained a good rapport with the native people and they lived harmoniously by exchanging their experience.Dr. Cross, leader of the white settlement maintained a good friendship with Wunyeran, the tribal elder and other natives.The protagonist Bobby Wabalanginy, a smart, resourceful and eager to please Noongar boy befriends the settlers, and helps them to ensure they have a comfortable life.He assists them in hunting whales, tilling the land and establishing a new colony.Bobby is invited by the Chaine family to his home and "Mrs Chaine took over as Bobby's tutor" (Scott 2012, p. 169).Bobby's association with Dr. Cross and the Chaine family moulds him into a new personality.When tribal elder Wunyeran dies from sickness the "soldiers buried him just like his black brother Menak told them to, and when Dr. Cross died (Dr.Cross was like the Boss of king George Town back then), they laid him down in the same grave as his good old friend, Wunyeran" (Scott 2012, p. 80).Thus, when the settlers depend on the natives in the initial stage the burial of Wunyeran and Dr. Cross takes place in the same graveyard due to mutual respect and love.But when the British settlement expands and the whites gets familiar with the place and the people, things start changing in the Noongar land.The white township leader decides that Cross' burial place is inappropriate and reburies him in a new graveyard with other important settlers.In contrast, Wunyeran's grave is desecrated.The migrants start to enforce stringent rules and laws to keep the natives under their control.Through these imposed regulations, the Europeans colonise the Australian continent and dominate the indigenous inhabitation.Anne Brewster encapsulates the Australian history of colonisation thus: The white people's relationship with the Noongar becomes increasingly distantiated and militarised throughout the course of the novel as the Noongar are denied access to their land, stripped of their weapons, subject to various prohibitions and to intimidation, violence and incarceration.(Brewster 2011, p. 62) When the exploitation goes beyond their endurance, the native people decide to revolt against the white, and Bobby also understands the true colour of the white people: "Bobby knew Boss Chaine and his own laws" (Scott 2012, p. 371) and he also joins with his elders' rebellious move against the white.
HOMOGENEITY AMONG INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Raj (2011) testifies to the homogeneity among the indigenous people across the globe through the life of the Sami people of Norway and the Adijan people of India.The protagonists in this romantic love story are not just a couple of individuals but representatives of two indigenous communities from different parts of the world.Veeran is an Adijan, member of the so called untouchable caste from India while Ramona is a Sami woman from Norway.Veeran, an anthropologist meets Ramona, a philosopher and love blooms between them primarily due to their realization of homogeneity in their ethos.As rightly observed by Hazri, The author has worked out the idea that a healthy assimilation of these two indigenous cultures is possible because of the inherent similarity in the philosophy of both.The title of the work is itself suggestive of such assimilation: 'Yoiking' is a kind of instant singing that expresses deep feeling of Sami people and is very similar to 'Sobana' that Dalit women sing in south India.Writer formed the title Yoikana by using these two words -Yoiking + Sobana".(Hazri 2014, p. 53) This homogeneity can be perceived throughout the novel Yoikana.The author begins Yoikana with a powerful indigenous cultural statement that "Earth is our mother, Reindeer is our Ancestor."(Raj 2011, p. 1).Veeran also informs Ramona that "in my land, we call buffalo our ancestor" (Raj 2011, p. 3).Raj (2011) also depicts the other similarities between the Sami people of Norway and the Dalit people of India with examples like song forms, drums, meat eating, Sami Shamanism the original religious path of Sami (Raj 2011 p. 131), Shamanic cosmism, the Pre-Aryan philosophy (Raj 2011 p. 236).The Director of Samediggi himself attests: "... we have many things in common such as history, culture, philosophy, spirituality, psychology, material issues, etc" (Raj 2011 p. 288).Thus Raj (2011) demonstrates the theory he stated in Dyche that, there is cultural, spiritual and psychological uniformity among Dalits and other Indigenous communities through his novel.The novel That Deadman Dance also implicitly portrays the ethos, culture and psyche of the Noongar people.They are described as friendly, -"Noongar...are very friendly and often assist the settlers" (Scott 2012, p. 35) -helpful, vibrant and living in close harmony with nature by way of their food, clothing and shelter.
Cross guessed Wunyeran was in his early twenties.He wore a fine bone through his nose, a cloak of kangaroo skin across his shoulders and the belt of woven hair around his waist usually held a small axe of club.Sometimes he wore feathers in his hair or in a band at his upper arm, and he was inevitably coated in grease or oil".(Scott 2012, p. 90-91) MIGRANT PSYCHE VERSUS INDIGENOUS PSYCHE: PERCEPTION ON NATURE AND LAND Raj & Jyothi (2008) attempt to explain the root cause for the marginalisation of the Dalit community whom he regards as 'Adijans'.Before the migrants' encounter the Indigenous people survived successfully, living in harmony with nature guided by their own philosophies.He observes, "indigenous groups such as Adijan are guided by the worldview that they belong to the earth, to the cosmos and to space" (Raj & Jyothi 2008 p. 107).However, the influx of migrant forces to their native land reduced their survival space and consequently, they were relegated to the margins.The nomadic people moved around with crafty ideologies to exploit the indigenous people who had been living there for ages.The nomadic people subjugated the 'Adijans' for their survival, as "the psychological need of the wandering tribes is to secure themselves with aggression" (Raj& Jyothi 2008 p. 125).The nomadic race excluded the Dalit people from the society.The right of Dalit dignity and their right to equality in society are deprived by the Aryans.
Ownership has been deprived from the Dalit psyche not only by the deprivation of their culture, heritage but also by making them a colony of people.In their own village they never feel that it is their village and that they belong to the village community.They are constantly made to feel that they are only subsidiary of the village and not real owners.(Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 263) Unlike the migrant races, the indigenous people are noted for their harmonious living with nature without any intention to possess or master anything.Raj reasons: The psyche of the indigenous people is marked by their being completely integrated with the mechanisms of the universe.Being part of the movement and change of the cosmos the Adijan people see themselves more as being an integral part of nature than being its owners.Therefore, they lack a fundamental psyche of ownership of the world.They have no conscious and subconscious feeling or thought that they are the owners of the earth.In their psyche it is the world that owns them as they see clearly the transient nature of all life.The subconscious desire in them is to go back to the earth from where they and their ancestors came.The lack of ownership of the world does not allow them to master over the dynamics of nature.(Raj & Jyothi,p. 111) Therefore the kindness of the native people and their ideologies never allow them to control the land.This inherent quality of sharing makes them highly accommodative and prevents them from being unrelenting and unyielding.Appaji, the elderly person in the Dalit ashram, whom Veeran and Ramona meet, also reflects the same.He expresses the outcome of this Adijan philosophy and claims "you will not see the tendency in Dalit community to establish its hegemony over anything or anybody" (Raj 2011, p. 235).He also says that "all indigenous people of the world in pre-historic period were guided by the philosophy of cosmism.It still lives in the indigenous people of the world.It is very much alive amongst the Dalit women all over India" (Raj 2011, p. 236).The same philosophy is seen among indigenous Sami people of Norway.Ramona tells that "we are a large-hearted people.Our culture is like that.We never thought we owned the Earth.Our ancestors always taught our people that the Earth owned us.Therefore, we allowed all people of the Earth to come and settle in our land."(Raj 2011, p. 24).
In That Deadman Dance too, the same indigenous outlook which becomes reprehensible for the loss of Noongar people in their own land can be perceived.Bobby's translation of Menak's words is a case in point: We share the whales, you camp on our land and kill our kangaroos and tear up our trees and dirty our water and we forgive but now you will not share your sheep and my people are hungry and wait here because of you.(Scott 2012, p. 349) Thus the intrinsic indigenous perception of life is evident in the Australian Aboriginal context and this authenticates the statement "... what shaped the ancient psyche of the Adijan people was the conviction that all people and living beings belonged to the earth.If all living beings belonged to the earth nobody had a right to deny a space for anyone else on the face of the earth" (Raj & Jyothi,p. 112).
In Yoikana through the speech of Ramona to Dalit gathering Raj portrays the common cultural agony of Sami and Dalit people due to this indigenous perception of life: "Just as you are indigenous people here I come from the Sami community which is an indigenous community.You consider buffalo as your ancestor and we venerate Reindeer as our ancestor.Both of us have a history of losing our land to people who came from other places because of our simplicity and goodness.But your situation of losing land is much worse than what we have suffered.You have not only lost land but you are also treated as untouchables in your country".(Raj 2011,p. 253) As rightly observed, "Landownership is a crucial factor in establishing dominance" (Srinivas 1972, p. 11), the oppressors deprive the right to possess land from the oppressed.Land is the greatest source of economy, space and identity to individuals; therefore if the right for land is deprived, naturally the space for the growth of individual will be bunged in the society.In Yoikana, Deepthi expresses the pathetic plight of Dailt due to land catastrophe: "We have lost our land because of the nefarious designs of the caste forces to grab our land."(Raj 2011, p. 252), and the caste forces "drove us out of the expanse of our own land, and made us a landless people.We had to provide them our free labour in the name of our caste for sheer survival" (Raj 2011, p. 24).Similarly, the Norwegians grabbed the land of the Sami people who have the ultimate right over the land as the indigenous people of Norway and thus marginalised them.In her interview to Norwegian telecasting Corporation in Karasjok when she becomes the President of Samediggi, Ramona reveals the true agenda for empowerment: Land!That is my agenda!All our people should have land and vast stretch of land for our reindeer herding.Though it is not the only occupation in which we are involved in, it is our traditional occupation and is our culture and economy.Now land will also become our politics.We shall have full right over all the land that belongs to us.Land is the backbone of Sami economy and it will remain so for a very long time to come".(Raj 2011, p. 305) In That Deadman Dance Kim Scott also highlights the same land crisis faced by the Australian Aborigines: "... we can't even walk up river away from the sea in cold rainy time.Gotta walk around fences and guns, and sheep and bullock get the goodest water.They messing up the water, cutting the earth.What, we can't kill and eat them?And we now strangers to our special places" (Scott 2012, p. 400).While the White people have a great desire for land and its resources, and marginalise the Aboriginal people to master their land, the Aboriginal people have no desire to master over the land.They stand as a testimony to the words of Raj: "In the psyche of the Indigenous people, space belongs to the cosmos and no living being can usurp the right to claim ownership over space" (Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 113).Besides, in the outlook of the aborigines, nature is not lifeless and emotionless but they are just like living things.Contrary to this viewpoint, to the migrant psyche, nature is only a source for comfort and primary object for living.Kim Scott portrays Dr. Cross and Geordie Chaine as representatives of ambitious white individuals who are striving to incur benefits from nature by means of acquiring lands and destroying the environment.According to them, "... nature is just man's property which can be made use of at their will."(Wang 2015, p. 133) The innate nature of Chaine is brought out thus: "Chaine knows what he wants.Profits, not prophets" (p.301).This "tragedy of anthropocentrism which puts man above the nature" (Wang 2015, p. 132) turns out to be a menace for the aboriginal people who have the conviction that the natural space is the real source to get their necessary food to sustain their lives.In Yoikana, Veeran voices out this space constraint faced by the oppressed and points out the way how the dominant exploits the subaltern to maintain their status quo.
All oppressed people in any part of the world have only a limited space in society.The more oppressed you are, the narrower your societal space becomes.This is a common equation that you can find anywhere in the world.There is always a big scrambling for the limited space that is available at the bottom.Resources and space are appropriated unjustly at the bottom.Resources and space are appropriated unjustly by the most powerful people.(Raj 2011, p. 57) Thus, the congruence among the dominant or the migrant psyche is discernible through the coercive approach adopted by them to oppress the natives, regardless of the geographical position.This similarity can be perceived in Indian, Norwegian and Noongar contexts where the indigenous communities are deprived of their rights on their land and relegated to the margins.

COMPENSATORY MECHANISM: MORALISING
In Dyche, Raj and Jyothi (2008) explicate the compensatory mechanisms adopted by the oppressors and the oppressed.One of the mechanisms used by the oppressors is 'moralising' the oppressed.M.C Raj explains 'moralising' as 'the compensatory mechanism of the dominant psychic trajectory' (Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 607).The dominant unethical mindset considers anyone who goes away from their rules and regulation as corrupt against society and they try to moralise them for 'their' survival space and ensure supremacy.In Yoikana, the oppressed community are often reminded of their birth and threatened in the name of religion whenever they question against the caste imposed rituals and practices.When Veeran speaks against the village head Boraiah, he threatens him in the name of God: "Mariamma [God] will punish you if you dare to rebel against the age-old customs of the village" (Raj 2011, p. 52).As observed by M.C.Raj, the dominant caste people "give a conscious vent to their anger by giving more severe and unbearable laws and normative prescriptions" (Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 609) to 'other' people.The moralising and the severity of punishment are such that Veeran expresses his angst thus: "We are petrified to walk in the streets of some of our States in India" (Raj 2011, p. 25).In That Deadman Dance too, we can see this psychic trajectory among whites, when they execute their own rules over the native people and moralise them.In the name of civilisation and culture they deny the aboriginal people the rights to be on their own.They firmly believe that the aboriginal people need to be cultured and civilised by hook or by crook.Christine Chaine, the daughter of Chaine is very happy in the way the natives are "civilised."She muses: "Laws were being enforced now, thankfully.Natives must be clothed and without spears if they were to enter town.It was only decent, if we are to civilise them …" (Scott 2012, p. 376).They also want to ensure that all the natives adhere to their rules: "Papa said Bobby had to be taught respect for the rule of law.He was a good boy.There was no doubt that, with firm encouragement, these people were capable of being civilized" (Scott 2012, p. 377).By means of negative stereotypes, the Aboriginal people are forced to change to an alien culture, as rightly observed by Mills: "…colonised countries are often described in negative terms: the indigenous people were described as idle, weak, corrupt, their buildings were dirty, their culture a decaying version of a past grandeur" (Mills 2004, p. 101).

COMPENSATORY MECHANISM: OPEN REBELLION
In consequence to the rigorous oppression and mortification, the wounded psyche of the marginalised seeks compensating mechanisms to heal from the psychic wounds.In Dyche, Raj enlists many compensating mechanisms such as 'Open Rebellion', 'Achievement', 'Dogooder', 'Fake and Real Illness', 'Verbose', 'Reticence', and 'Berating'.These defence mechanisms are very much relevant to indigenous psyche all around the globe and especially the relevance of the compensating mechanism 'Open Rebellion' can be perceived in both the novels, Yoikana and That Deadman Dance.In Yoikana, Veeran adopts 'Open rebellion' to heal the psyche of self and his people.C Raj points out that Rebellion can have both negative and positive fall out.The negative impact of rebellion is generally a disruptive and destructive path.Some characters rebel against anything they sense as being good and beneficial to others.They cannot tolerate it.Immediately they rebel and say to themselves that such a thing should not be allowed.(Raj & Jyothi 2008, p. 590) But Veeran has a positive rebellion fall out and he transforms his 'self' and his community and facilitates empowerment by challenging the norms of the caste society.He rebels against caste exploitation, cultural hierarchy and tries to establish an egalitarian society for which he uses education and knowledge as a tool.
Veeran starts "a small library in his village in order to make knowledge available to his people" (Raj 2011, p. 40) and thus help them come out from long ignorance.But the caste Hindu people are against this move because according to them if Dalits "get educated and come to know the ways of the world, who will do free caste labour for the village?" (Yoikana, p. 41), therefore they consider Veeran's move as bad time or 'Kali Yuga' (Raj 2011, p. 184) to them.But to the Dalits, Veeran's revolutionary move brings 'good time' because education can only transform Dalit community and bring back dignity to them.With the awareness gained through education, they start questioning the unjust practices dumped on them because of their low birth.Ramesh, Veeran's friend, gains confidence to retort Boraiah thus: In ancient times our great grandparents were illiterate.They were not allowed to go to school and study.Therefore, they accepted whatever you people asked them to do.But now we know that it is against law for you to ask us to do free caste labour.(Raj 2011, p. 52) M.C.Raj affirms through Yoikana that education and collective protest for equality through open rebellion redefine the shadowed identity of indigenous communities.In Yoikana Veeran's desire for education and his concern for enlightening his people through education, and his way of life as a rebellious leader for Dalit rights help to re-define himself and his community.The same defence mechanism 'Open Rebellion' is used by Sami people of Norway too to re-define their identity in Yoikana.In the village meeting in India, Ramona's address stands as a testimony to this: I bring tidings of hope from my people.We have waged big battles based on our right to water.But you do not even have land.Therefore you must start with land….We are only about sixty thousand people in Norway in a population of more than forty million.But my mother led a struggle and today we have succeeded in establishing our own parliament in Norway.You can also win if you believe in your strength.You have enormous potential in you.… Believing in yourself is the investment you will be making in building a strong and bright future for your children.(Raj 2011, p. 253) This clearly indicates that positive 'Open Rebellion' through determination and sacrifice is the most successful defence mechanism to get freedom from the long imposed suppression of all indigenous subaltern communities around the globe.
Similarly, Bobby, the protagonist of That Deadman Dance chooses this same path of rebellion once he realises their marginalised predicament and exploitation of the living spaces in their own land.He gives vent to his anger: White's "footprints had cut away all the earth ... But what about Noongar people?" (Scott 2012, p. 369).In such a scenario, open rebellion becomes the ultimate defensive mechanism to the Australian Aborigines to reclaim their right and live in dignity rather than living as slaves in their own land.
Fighting for their right with determination and hope is the way of life for all indigenous people.Generation after generation the indigenous people are endowed with ultimate hope for empowerment.The younger generation inherit hope and inspiration from their elders' struggle for their liberation.In Yoikana, Madderakka the daughter of Veeran and Ramona gets inspiration from her parents.When she responses to the question "Is there anything more that you plan to do?" (Raj 2011, p. 320) asked by Norwegian Telecasting Corporation, she says: "Yes I have a mission that has not yet been initiated...I want my whole community to become one voting power.They must have a party of their own and make alliances with other parties with similar history, culture and ideology.I know this is almost an impossible task.But when my father and mother started their mission no one ever thought it was possible for them to bring about permanent changes.When my grandmother started her struggles in Alta, even she did not think it was possible to establish a Sami parliament in Karasjok".(Raj 2011, p. 320) In That Deadman Dance also we can see that the protest against the white is born among the aboriginal elders and due to their inspiration Bobby understands the real magnitude of the exploitation and protests against the White for survival space.He comes to know about old Boss Chaine and his own laws... they seemed to divide the world up into black and white people ... they put all black people together, and set to work" (Scott 2012, p. 371) for the their good living space without sharing.So Bobby and the aboriginal people protest against the structural policy of the British.As a protest the natives steal the food from White's shops."On the 18 th of August Mr Chaine…on the 26th of August Mr Killam's store…on the 4th of September Mr Chaine's store was again broken ... on this occasion the footmarks of Bobby, Wooral and Menak among others were identified and the police tracked them" (Scott 2012, p. 387-388) as criminals.
Thus extreme dominance of the migrants subjugates the natives, and this leads to insurgency.However, the indigenous people's 'Open Rebellion' for equality and dignity is portrayed as misdemeanour against society by the white like the rebellion of Dalit and tribal are portrayed as misdemeanour against society by the mainstream society.Thus it is evident that the rights of the subaltern are denied by the dominant around the world.