A humpy, also known as a gunyah, wurley, wurly, wurlie, ''mia-mia'', ''wiltija'', is a small, temporary shelter, traditionally used by

Australian Aboriginal people Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

. These impermanent dwellings, made of branches and bark, are sometimes called a

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

, since they often rely on a standing tree for support.

Etymology

The word humpy comes from the Jagera language (a Murri people from

Coorparoo Coorparoo is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Coorparoo had a population of 16,282 people. Geography Coorparoo is by road south-east of the Brisbane GPO. It borders Camp Hill, Holland Park, Stones Corner, ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

); other

language groups A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...

would have different names for the structure. In

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, such a shelter is known as a "wurley" (also spelled "wurlie"), possibly from the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...

language. They are called wiltjas in

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

and Yankunytjatjara languages, mia-mia in

Wadawurrung The Wathaurong nation, also called the Wathaurung, Wadawurrung and Wadda Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin a ...

language.

Usage

They were temporary shelters made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by Indigenous Australians. Both names were adopted by early white settlers, and now form part of the Australian lexicon. The use of the term appears to have broadened in later usage to include any temporary building made from any available materials, including canvas, flattened metal drums, and sheets of corrugated iron.

Gallery

File:Aboriginal family group, Eugene Von Guerard, ca. 1859.jpg, Aboriginal family and their temporary bark ''gunya'' (shelter), File:Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter), Johns Album ca. 1872.jpg, Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter), Victoria, c. 1872 File:Two Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter) wrapped in traditional pelt cloaks, John Hunter Kerr. ca. 1850s.jpg, Two Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya, c. 1850s File:Aboriginals under temporary bark gunya (shelter), ca. 1888.jpg, Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, c. 1888 File:Aboriginal temporary bark gunyah (shelter), ca. 1870.jpg, Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, 1889 File:Four Aboriginal people at the entrance to their dwelling, Western Australia, Gustav Riemer ca. 1876.jpg, Aboriginal people at the entrance to their dwelling, Western Australia, c. 1876 File:Humpy, Gunyah, south west Queensland. part of scenes of far western Queensland, Fred McKay gulf patrol, 1937 - (John Flynn?) (19306853893).jpg, Framework of a humpy in far western Queensland, 1937 File:Native Wurley.jpg, Native Wurley, 1886 File:StateLibQld 1 113072 Bushman with his dog and horse outside a humpy, Hughenden district^, 1910-1920.jpg, Bushman humpy, 1910s File:StateLibQld 2 239273 Bark humpy on Cleveland Road, Brisbane, 1874.jpg, Bark humpy, Brisbane, 1874

Notes

External links

State Library of Victoria photo of Aboriginal people and humpy
Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Australian Aboriginal cultural history Huts in Australia Human habitats Indigenous architecture Architecture in Australia Australian Aboriginal words and phrases House types {{IndigenousAustralia-stub

Etymology

Usage

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links