- Cadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal, are a group of
Aboriginal Australians who originally inhabited the area that they called 'Cadi', part of which later became known as the Marrickville Local Government Area ofSydney . Cadigal territory lies south ofPort Jackson and stretches from South Head to Petersham with part of the southern boundary lying on theCooks River . The Cadigal language is a derivative of theDarug language.Soon after his arrival at Port Jackson, Governor
Arthur Phillip estimated the Cadigal population at around 1500 people, although other estimates range from as low as 200 to as high as 4000. [ [http://www.australiast.uts.edu.au/ARCHIVE/CAM01.shtml Australia St Archive] ]The occupation of the Sydney area by the British and the subsequent introduction of European diseases including
smallpox decimated the Eora people and their neighbours. The disastrous 1789 smallpox epidemic is estimated to have killed about 50% of Sydney's indigenous population, and it has been claimed that only three Cadigal people were left alive by 1791, although archaeological evidence suggests that some Cadigal people may have escaped to the Concord area and settled there. [ [http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani/themes/theme1.htm City of Sydney: Aboriginal People & Place] ]External links
* [http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/cadigalwangal/main.htm Cadigal Wangal]
* [http://redfernoralhistory.org/Timeline/Gadigalpeople/tabid/240/Default.aspx/ Redfern oral history]References
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