Gadigal

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This article is about a group of Aboriginal people from Sydney. For the railway station, see Gadigal railway station.

Gadigal people
aka: Cadigal
Caddiegal (Tindale)[1]
Hierarchy
Language family:Pama–Nyungan
Language branch:Yuin-Kuric
Language group:Dharug
Group dialects:Cadigal
Area (approx. 700 km2 (270 sq mi)[1])
Bioregion:Sydney basin
Location:Eastern suburbs, Inner West, Port Jackson
Coordinates:33°50′S 151°5′E / 33.833°S 151.083°E / -33.833; 151.083[1]
RiversCooks, Parramatta
Other geological:Port Jackson
Notable individuals

The Gadigal, also spelled as Cadigal and Caddiegal,[1] are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country,[2][3] the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[4]

The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that they call "Gadi", which lies south of Port Jackson, covering today's Sydney central business district and stretching from South Head across to Marrickville/Petersham with part of the southern boundary lying on the Cooks River; most notably Sydney Cove is located in Gadi, the site where the first Union Jack was raised, marking the beginning of colonisation. However, since colonisation and its subsequent spread, most Gadigal people have been displaced from their traditional lands.[5]

Philip Gidley King gave Long Cove as the western boundary[6] which lieutenant governor David Collins identified with present-day Darling Harbour.[7] Arthur Phillip in a letter to Lord Sydney in February 1790 also reported: "From the entrance of the harbour, along the south shore, to the cove adjoining this settlement the district is called Cadi, and the tribe Cadigal; the women, Cadigalleon".[8]

The Gadigal are coastal people who were previously dependent on the harbour for providing most of their food whilst they were living in their traditional lands. They are one of seven clans from coastal Sydney who speak a common language and have become known as the Eora people. "Eora" refers to "people" or "of this place" in Dharug language.[9]

European history[edit]

Soon after his arrival at Port Jackson, Governor Arthur Phillip estimated the Aboriginal population of the area at around 1,500 people, although other estimates range from as low as 200 to as high as 4,000.[10] The Gadigal clan was estimated to have 50-80 people.[9]

The colonisation of the land by British settlers and the subsequent introduction of infectious diseases including smallpox decimated the Gadigal people and their neighbours. The 1789 smallpox epidemic was estimated to have killed about 50% of the local Dharug population,[11][a] and it was claimed that only three Gadigal people were left alive by 1791, although archaeological evidence suggests that some Gadigal people may have escaped to the Concord area and settled there.[13]

The former Marrickville Council area, now part of Inner West Council, is situated within Gadigal country and bordering Wangal country. In 1994 the Marrickville Aboriginal Consultative Committee was established and the committee established the Cadigal/Wangal peoples' website.[14][15]

Gadigal Elder Allen Madden estimates that several hundred Dharug people, including at least a hundred Gadigal people in his own family, live in Sydney today.[16][17]

Popular culture[edit]

Australian band Midnight Oil included a song "Gadigal Land" as a single in their The Makarrata Project mini-album project.[18] The song includes a verse written and spoken by Gadigal poet Joel Davison.[19] A statement from Sony Music Australia explained: "It is a provocative recount of what happened in this place, and elsewhere in Australia, since 1788".[20]

In October 2023, the New South Wales government renamed a Sydney Metro station to Gadigal railway station whilst it was under construction, which had formerly been named as Pitt Street station.[21][22][23]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ This epidemic is unlikely to have been a natural event.(Warren 2013, pp. 68–86)[12]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Tindale 1974.
  2. ^ Attenbrow, Val (2010). Sydney's Aboriginal Past: Investigating the archaeological and historical records. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-74223-116-7.
  3. ^ Heiss, Anita; Gibson, Melodie-Jane (2013). "Aboriginal people and place". Sydney Barani. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  4. ^ City of Sydney 2017.
  5. ^ Heiss & Gibson n.d.
  6. ^ An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, John Hunter, 1793
  7. ^ An Account of the English Colony In NSW, Vol 1., David Collins, 1798
  8. ^ Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. I Part 2. - Phillip 1783-1792, Britton 1892
  9. ^ a b RBGS.
  10. ^ Camperdown.
  11. ^ Cumpston 1914.
  12. ^ "Smallpox epidemic". National Museum Australia. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  13. ^ Heiss, Anita; McCormack, Terri; Ross, Steven (20 April 2002). "City of Sydney: Aboriginal People & Place". City of Sydney. Gadigal Information Service. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
  14. ^ Marrickville Council.
  15. ^ Cadigal-Wangal.
  16. ^ Smyth 2009.
  17. ^ Newman 2017.
  18. ^ Maloon 2020.
  19. ^ Hocking 2020.
  20. ^ Brandle 2020.
  21. ^ Segaert, Anthony (8 August 2023). "Indigenous name slated for new Sydney metro station". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  22. ^ "New CBD metro station named Gadigal Railway Station". Sydney Metro. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  23. ^ Todoroski, Caitlyn (20 October 2023). "This new Sydney CBD metro station has been named in recognition of the land's traditional custodians". TimeOut. Retrieved 23 March 2024.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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