The Bidjigal (also spelt Bediagal, Bejigal, Bedegal or Biddegal) 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, and there is debate as to whether the clan is part of the Dharug or Eora people. The Bidjigal clan were the first Indigenous Australians to encounter the First Fleet. Led by Pemulwuy, the Bidjigal people resisted European colonisation from the First Fleet's arrival in 1788. Identity The Bidjigal are sometimes said to be a clan of the Dharug people, and sometimes a clan of the Eora people. This, in part, stems from the anthropological debate around whether the Eora people were a distinct clan, or whether Eora was a general term in colonial papers to refer to Aboriginal people. Additionally, academic Kohen has suggested that there may have been some confusion between two distinct groups: the Bidjigal (living in the Baulkham Hills area) and the Bediagal at Botany Bay in the Salt Pan Creek area. Anthropologist Val Attenbrow discusses their possible origin and location, and concludes that the question is "somewhat vexed". Norman Tindale, referring on the earliest historical sources, regarded them as a horde occupying the area just north of Castle Hill, Their geographical location is confusing, as they seem to have been based in southern Sydney, in the region between the Cooks River, Wolli Creek and the Georges River to Salt Pan Creek, and yet also seem to have inhabited land in the Hills District of Sydney, in what is now . Coastal areas and beaches such as Bondi and Coogee are believed to have been concurrently occupied by a combination of Bidjigal, Gadigal and Birrabirrragal clan groups, who were a shared saltwater cultural group, all from the Dharug language group and strong ties of kinship. Culture Significance of Fire Fire is of central importance to Bidjigal culture and practices. This includes Smoking Ceremonies, which are a means of communicating with the Fire Spirit. Smoking ceremonies are part of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clan’s cultures, and are a means of cleansing people and places of bad spirits to protect from the dangerous powers of spiritual beings. Gender Men, women and children have different roles in the clan. Men are the warriors, gatekeepers and