Gadigal

Last updated

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′S151°5′E / 33.833°S 151.083°E / -33.833; 151.083 [1]
Rivers Cooks, 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] However, since the colonisation of Australia, most Gadigal people have been displaced from their traditional lands.

Contents

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. [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

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 Eora population, with only three Gadigal survivors. [11] [12] [13] [a] However, archaeological evidence suggests that some Gadigal people may have escaped to the Concord area and settled there. [15] Since colonisation and its subsequent spread, most Gadigal people have been displaced from their traditional lands. [5]

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. [16] [17]

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. [18] [19]

Australian band Midnight Oil included a song "Gadigal Land" as a single in their The Makarrata Project mini-album project. [20] The song includes a verse written and spoken by Gadigal poet Joel Davison. [21] A statement from Sony Music Australia explained: "It is a provocative recount of what happened in this place, and elsewhere in Australia, since 1788". [22]

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. [23] [24] [25]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This epidemic is unlikely to have been a natural event.(Warren 2013, pp. 68–86) [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Cove</span> Bay in Sydney Harbour, Australia

Sydney Cove is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney location between the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dharug</span> Aboriginal Australian people

The Dharug or Darug people, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much of what is modern-day Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wangal</span> Ethnic group of indigenous Australians

The Wangal people are a clan of the Dharug Aboriginal people whose heirs are custodians of the lands and waters of what is now the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, centred around the Municipality of Strathfield, Municipality of Burwood, City of Canada Bay and former Ashfield Council and extending west into the City of Parramatta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewisham, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Lewisham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lewisham is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eora</span> Aboriginal Australian nation of New South Wales

The Eora are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sydney basin, in New South Wales, Australia. The Eora share a language with the Darug people, whose traditional lands lie further inland, to the west of the Eora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipality of Leichhardt</span> Former local government area in New South Wales, Australia

The Municipality of Leichhardt was a local government area in the inner-west region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Sydney central business district. On 12 May 2016, Leichhardt merged with Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Ashfield to form the Inner West Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dharug language</span> Australian Aboriginal language of the Sydney area

The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in the region of Sydney, New South Wales, until it became extinct due to effects of colonisation. It is the traditional language of the Dharug people. The Dharug population has greatly diminished since the onset of colonisation. The term Eora language has sometimes been used to distinguish a coastal dialect from hinterland dialects, but there is no evidence that Aboriginal peoples ever used this term, which simply means "people". Some effort has been put into reviving a reconstructed form of the language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidjigal</span> Aboriginal Australian people

The Bidjigal people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The land includes the Bidjigal Reserve, Salt Pan Creek and the Georges River. They are part of the Dharug language group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Heiss</span> Indigenous Australian author

Anita Marianne Heiss is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her membership of boards and committees.

Koori Radio, is a community radio station based in Redfern broadcasting to Sydney on a citywide licence. Since the early 1990s it has been part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS), and is the only radio station in Sydney providing full-time broadcasting to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Arabanoo was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Eora forcibly abducted on New Year's Eve 1788 by British colonists who arrived with the First Fleet at Port Jackson. His capture was organised to force communication and relations between the Aboriginal people and the British. Arabanoo was the first Aboriginal Australian to live among Europeans.

<i>Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall</i> Sculpture in Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia

Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall is a sculptural artwork by Indigenous Australian artist Tony Albert located in Hyde Park, Sydney. Unveiled on 31 March 2015, the artwork acknowledges the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women in the Australian Defence Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakleigh, Potts Point</span> Former boarding house in Sydney, Australia

Oakleigh is a heritage-listed residence and former boarding house at 18 Ward Avenue in the inner city Sydney suburb of Potts Point in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built c. 1880 on the former estate of the now-demolished Goderich Lodge. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenner House</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Jenner House is a heritage-listed residence located at 2 Macleay Street in the inner city Sydney suburb of Potts Point in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Edmund Blacket and built in 1871, with an 1877 third-floor addition designed by Thomas Rowe. It has also been known as Fleet Club, Stramshall, Jenner Private Hospital, Kurragheen and Lugano. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Hotel, Sydney</span> Heritage-listed hotel in Sydney, Australia

The Crown Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 160–162 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">181–187 Hay Street, Sydney</span> Historic site in Sydney, Australia

181–187 Hay Street, also known as the Corporation Building or Municipal Building, is a heritage-listed former council chambers located at 181–187 Hay Street, in the Haymarket district of Sydney, Australia. It was built from 1893. The property is owned by City of Sydney and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Office, abbreviated as NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Office, is a heritage-listed former Aboriginal land, farm and house and now education centre and teacher-training facility at 37 Cavendish Street, Stanmore, Inner West Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1887 to 1888. It is also known as NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Office and Records and NSW AECG Office. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 19 January 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boorong</span> Burramattagal cross-cultural pioneer

Boorong, also known as Booron or Abaroo, was a Burramattagal woman who was the first female Indigenous Australian to establish significant relations with the British colonists of Australia. She was also the first Indigenous Australian to be instructed in Christianity. As a child, she learnt English and became an important interpreter between the Eora people of Port Jackson and the British in the early years of colonisation. In adulthood, Boorong was the third wife of Bennelong and is buried with him near Kissing Point, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadigal Land</span> 2020 single by Midnight Oil featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and Bunna Lawrie

"Gadigal Land" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and Bunna Lawrie. The song was released on 7 August 2020. It is the band's first single in 17 years, and is part of The Makarrata Project, a themed mini-album of collaborations with Indigenous artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colebe</span> Sixteenth-century Aboriginal Australian

Gringerry Kibba Colebee also spelt Colebe, Coleby or Colbee, was an eighteenth-century Gadigal man, an Aboriginal Australian people from present-day Sydney, New South Wales. He was known by the Gweagal people as Cadi Colebee.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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 [Arabanoo] 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

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.