The crow on this map opens a door into a much older Cottesloe. Noongar oral histories connect Kadjil, also written Kudjil, with Mudurup and Wadjemup. In these accounts, the Crow man could take the form of a crow, and his knowledge connected changing weather with the arrival of fish.
Anthropologists Ken Macintyre and Barb Dobson recorded versions from Noongar Elders, including Corrie Bodney. They also describe stories of Johnny Cudgel returning from imprisonment on Wadjemup in the form of a crow: stories of hope, defiance and connection to his people.
This is a brief introduction to those published accounts, not the whole story. Follow the authors’ research below for the voices, history and different versions behind it.
