Humpy

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.

Different types of Aboriginal shelters, Queensland.

Etymology

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

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.

Gallery

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

Notes

^ "Definition of gunyah". www.allwords.com.
^ Memmott, Paul (2007), Gunyah, Goondie and Wurley : the Aboriginal architecture of Australia (1st ed.), University of Queensland Press, ISBN 978-0-7022-3245-9
^ "Tents". One Planet. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
^ Cannot, Jack; Prince, Victor (1912), I'll build a gunyah for you : song, Allan & Co. Pty. Ltd, retrieved 7 January 2019
^ Peters, Pam, The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p818
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ Australian Indigenous tools and technology - Australia's Culture Portal Archived 2010-04-16 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Our People". Borough of Queenscliffe.
^ Australian National Research Council (1930). Oceania. University of Sydney. p. 288.

External links

State Library of Victoria photo of Aboriginal people and humpy

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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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