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The Gadigal, also spelled as Cadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. However, since the colonisation of Australia, most Gadigal people have been displaced from their traditional lands.

Pre-colonisation history

The Gadigal people 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.

Philip Gidley King gave Long Cove as the western boundary which lieutenant governor David Collins identified with present-day Darling Harbour. 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".

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.

European history

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. The Gadigal clan was estimated to have 50-80 people.

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 Eora population, with only three Gadigal survivors. However, archaeological evidence suggests that some Gadigal people may have escaped to the Concord area and settled there. Since colonisation and its subsequent spread, most Gadigal people have been displaced from their traditional lands.

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.

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.

Popular culture

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

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.

See also

• Aboriginal Australians

Notes

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

References

1. ^ 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. ^ RBGS.
10. Camperdown.
11. Flood 2019, p. 49"The epidemic was certainly smallpox and killed over half the Eora. Mortality was up to 95 per cent in some bands; only three survived out of the 50-strong Cadigal."
12. Broome 2019, pp. 22–23. "However, he perished in the diastrous smallpox epidemic that destroyed half the Eora in mid-1789."
13. Heiss, Anita; Gibson, Melodie-Jane (2013). "Aboriginal people and place". Sydney Barani. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014. It is estimated that almost half of Sydney's Aboriginal population died in the smallpox epidemic of 1789. Melinda Hinkson's Aboriginal Sydney says that the Gadigal, 'the recognised owners of Sydney Cove – were reduced in number from about 60 in 1788 to just three in 1791'
14. "Smallpox epidemic". National Museum Australia. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
15. 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.
16. Marrickville Council.
17. Cadigal-Wangal.
18. Smyth 2009.
19. Newman 2017.
20. Maloon 2020.
21. Hocking 2020.
22. Brandle 2020.
23. Segaert, Anthony (8 August 2023). "Indigenous name slated for new Sydney metro station". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
24. "New CBD metro station named Gadigal Railway Station". Sydney Metro. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
25. 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

• "Aboriginal histories". City of Sydney. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
• "Australian national anthem sung in a First Nations language before Wallabies-Pumas rugby Test". ABC News. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
• Broome, Richard (2019). Aboriginal Australians: a history since 1788 (5th ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760528218.
• Brandle, Lars (7 August 2020). "Midnight Oil return with politically-charged "Gadigal Land": Stream it now". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
• "Camperdown". University of Technology Sydney. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
• Cumpston, J. H. L. (1914). The History of Small-Pox in Australia, 1788-1908. Melbourne: Government Printer, Government of Australia.
• Flood, Josephine (2019). The Original Australians: the story of the Aboriginal People (2nd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760527075.
• Heiss, Anita; Gibson, Melodie-Jane (n.d.). "Aboriginal people and place". Barani: Sydney's Aboriginal History. City of Sydney. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
• Hocking, Rachael (7 August 2020). "The story behind the Gadigal poetry on Midnight Oil's latest track". NITV. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
• "Home". Cadigal-Wangal Aboriginal Marrickville Website. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
• "Indigenous Heritage". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
• Maloon, Natacha (7 August 2020). "Midnight Oil release their first new song in 20 years, "Gadigal Land"". 9Honey. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
• "Marrickville Aboriginal Consultative Committee (MACC)". Marrickville Council. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
• Newman, Martin (8 July 2017). "Gadigal people have a unique affinity with Sydney's harbour and lands". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
• "Place names chart". Place names chart – The Australian Museum. Australian Museum. n.d. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
• Smyth, Terry (15 February 2009). "First Contact: A Contemporary Aboriginal Perspective". The Sun Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
• "Sydney Cove / Warrane". Barani: Sydney's Aboriginal History. City of Sydney. n.d. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
• Tindale, Norman (1974). "Eora (NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia. South Australian Museum. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
• Warren, Christopher (30 October 2013). "Smallpox at Sydney Cove – who, when, why?". Journal of Australian Studies. 38 (1): 68–86. doi:10.1080/14443058.2013.849750. ISSN 1444-3058. S2CID 143644513.

External links

• "Gadigal people". Redfern Oral History. Retrieved 11 April 2017.

• Eora
• Sydney