Some People Want to Shoot Me (Wayne Bergmann & Madelaine Dickie, Fremantle)

Some People Want to Shoot Me is the straight-talking biography of Wayne Bergmann, an Indigenous land rights advocate and native title lawyer who famously took on a multinational company and won. In the early 2010s, the Nyikina man led the fraught negotiations (on behalf of Traditional Owners) on the infamous James Price Point gas hub planned for north of Broome. Co-authored with Madelaine Dickie (Troppo), the book chronicles Bergmann’s rise from the margins of society, fighting against cyclical poverty and illiteracy, to CEO of the Kimberley Land Council (KLC), aged only 33. It was Bergmann’s passion for First Nations self-determination that guided him through his law studies and his legal articles in Perth, and then to a place at KLC. This path led him to one almighty David-and-Goliath battle that is retold with deft narration and incisive comments from interview subjects. While Dickie describes Bergmann’s ‘sense of urgency’ in writing this retelling of his life story, Dickie never rushes his story or overlays a narrowing outsider perspective. Storytelling and letting Elders (who transmit unique cultural knowledge to their community) speak up are both vital cultural practices, which underpin the book’s message about simply listening to First Nations folk: ‘listening to the old people [is] fundamental to keeping culture strong’. Some People Want to Shoot Me tells the story of one remarkable First Nations person who risked so much—his career, his place in his community, even his life—in an uphill battle for native title recognition in the Kimberley. After the outcome of the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum, stories like Bergmann’s highlight the crucial nature of First Nations agency and autonomy.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Nathan Smith is a freelance writer. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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