Cannabaygal

Cannabaygal (c.1770 – 17 April 1816), also known as Cannabayagal, Conibigal, Carnimbeigle or Kannabygle, was a warrior of the Gandangara people during the early stages of British colonisation of the Camden region in New South Wales. He was considered as one of the main leaders of local resistance to British occupation in the latter stages of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars. He was killed in the Appin Massacre during a campaign by James Wallis in 1816 to subjugate the Gandangara people. His corpse was gibbeted in a tree along with that of Dunelle of Muringong clan of Dharug nation and later beheaded, with both skulls being sent to Scotland for anatomical study.

First meeting with Europeans Cannabaygal first came into contact with European people in 1802 when the French-born ensign of the New South Wales Corps, Francis Barrallier, led a British expedition into the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. There was no direct interaction but Barrallier observed him and his clan hunting game with the aid of fire near the Nattai River. Other Aboriginal men who Barrallier communicated with said that this Gandangara clan was led by a prominent man named Cannabaygal.

Cannabaygal's skull was repatriated to Australia in 1991.