Humpy

A humpy is a small, temporary shelter, traditionally used by Australian Aboriginal people. They are also called a gunyah, wurley, wurly, wurlie, mia-mia, or wiltija. They are made of branches and bark, are sometimes called a lean-to, since they often need a tree for support.

The word humpy comes from the Turrubal language, a Murri people from Brisbane. Other groups used different names. In South Australia, they are called a wurley (also spelled "wurlie"), possibly from the Kaurna language. They are called wiltjas by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people. The Wadawurrung people around Melbourne called them a mia-mia.

Usage

A humpy was a temporary shelter made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by Indigenous Australians. The word "humpy" was used by early European settlers, and is now part of the Australian language. The word now includes any temporary building made from any available materials, including canvas, flattened metal drums, and sheets of corrugated iron.

In his book Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe said that some gunyahs in the Channel Country could hold up to 50 people and were built to last.

Gallery

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  Aboriginal family and their temporary bark gunya (shelter), c. 1856
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  Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya (shelter), Victoria, c. 1872
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  Two Aboriginal woman in front of bark gunya, c. 1850s
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  Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, c. 1888
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  Temporary lean-to bark gunyah, 1889
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  Aboriginal people at the entrance to their dwelling, Western Australia, c. 1876
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  Framework of a humpy in far western Queensland, 1937
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  Native Wurley, 1886
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  Bushman humpy, 1910s
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  Bark humpy, Brisbane, 1874
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  [Aboriginal people] and wurlie near Alice Springs (Mparntwe), c. 1930s.
• 
  Aboriginal wurlie near Alice Springs, c. 1930s

References

Other websites

• State Library of Victoria photo of Aboriginal people and humpy