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.
[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.