A mia-mia is a temporary
shelter
Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.
Shelter may also refer to:
Places
* Port Shelter, Hong Kong
* Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations
* Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...
made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by some
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. The word is also used in
Australian English to mean "a temporary shelter". Coming from the
Wathawurrung language
Wadawurrung, also rendered as Wathawurrung, Wathaurong or Wada wurrung, and formerly sometimes Barrabool, is the Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria. It was spoken by 15 clans ...
, the term is also used in New Zealand, where it is usually spelt ''mai-mai'' and has the slightly different meaning of a
shelter or hide used by a duck-hunter.
See also
*
Humpy
A humpy, also known as a gunyah, wurley, wurly or wurlie, is a small, temporary shelter, traditionally used by Australian Aboriginal people. These impermanent dwellings, made of branches and bark, are sometimes called a lean-to, since they oft ...
External links
The mystery of mia-mia(
Australian National Dictionary Centre
The Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) at the Australian National University in Canberra is a major centre for lexicographical research in Australia. It is jointly funded by the Australian National University and Oxford University Pres ...
at the Australian National University) (archived)
House types
Australian Aboriginal words and phrases
Indigenous architecture
Huts in Australia
{{Australia-struct-stub