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For the John Williamson album, see Gunyah (album). For the chess player, see Koneru Humpy.

A 19th-century engraving showing Aboriginal people and a humpy
Aboriginal winter encampments in wurlies, South Australia, c. 1858
Aboriginal camp, Victoria, c. 1858
Different types of Aboriginal shelters, Queensland.

A humpy, also known as a gunyah,[1][2][3][4] wurley, wurly, wurlie, mia-mia, or wiltija, 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 often rely on a standing tree for support.

Etymology

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The word humpy comes from the Jagera language (a Murri people from Coorparoo in Brisbane); other language groups would have different names for the structure. In South Australia, such a shelter is known as a "wurley" (also spelled "wurlie"), possibly from the Kaurna language.[5][6][7] They are called wiltjas in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara languages, mia-mia in Wadawurrung language.[8][9]

Usage

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They were temporary shelters made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by Indigenous Australians.[10] 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.

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  • Aboriginal family and their temporary bark gunya (shelter), c. 1856
    Aboriginal family and their temporary bark gunya (shelter), c. 1856
  • Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter), Victoria, c. 1872
    Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter), Victoria, c. 1872
  • Two Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya, c. 1850s
    Two Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya, c. 1850s
  • Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, c. 1888
    Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, c. 1888
  • Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, 1889
    Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, 1889
  • Aboriginal people at the entrance to their dwelling, Western Australia, c. 1876
    Aboriginal people at the entrance to their dwelling, Western Australia, c. 1876
  • Framework of a humpy in far western Queensland, 1937
    Framework of a humpy in far western Queensland, 1937
  • Native Wurley, 1886
    Native Wurley, 1886
  • Bushman humpy, 1910s
    Bushman humpy, 1910s
  • Bark humpy, Brisbane, 1874
    Bark humpy, Brisbane, 1874

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Definition of gunyah". www.allwords.com.
  2. ^ Memmott, Paul (2007), Gunyah, Goondie and Wurley : the Aboriginal architecture of Australia (1st ed.), University of Queensland Press, ISBN 978-0-7022-3245-9
  3. ^ "Tents". One Planet. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  4. ^ Cannot, Jack; Prince, Victor (1912), I'll build a gunyah for you : song, Allan & Co. Pty. Ltd, retrieved 7 January 2019
  5. ^ Peters, Pam, The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p818
  6. ^ "A Bark Humpy. How to Build it?". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 30 October 1930. p. 57. Retrieved 7 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Humpies and Gunyahs : Coloured Families on the Tweed". Sunday Mail. No. 550. Queensland, Australia. 10 December 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 7 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ Australian Indigenous tools and technology - Australia's Culture Portal Archived 2010-04-16 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Our People". Borough of Queenscliffe.
  10. ^ Australian National Research Council (1930). Oceania. University of Sydney. p. 288.
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