Gadigal

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]