Gunyah

A gunyah (also gunya) is a shelter traditionally built by Aboriginal Australians from bark, branches, leaves and grass. The same kind of structure is known by many names in different languages and regions: humpy, from the Turrubal language of the Brisbane area; wurley in South Australia, possibly from Kaurna; mia-mia among Wadawurrung speakers near Melbourne; and wiltija among Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara speakers. Other recorded words include nganu and goondie. Because there were hundreds of Aboriginal languages, these names are only a small sample.

Construction

Many shelters were lean-tos, using a standing tree for support, with a covering of bark sheets, branches, leaves or grass. Researcher Paul Memmott found that many Aboriginal huts were dome structures. Designs varied with climate, local materials, family size and the needs of the community: some houses had triple layers of cladding and insulation, and fires kept burning around a gunyah gave warmth and drove away snakes and insects. In the rainforest near Cairns, domed villages were occupied for up to a year during the wet season.

Permanent and stone-based houses

The image of Aboriginal shelters as purely temporary has been challenged. Writer Bruce Pascoe argues that some gunyahs in the Channel Country could hold up to 50 people and formed part of settled communities. In south-west Victoria, the Gunditjmara built houses with circular basalt walls (see Budj Bim stone houses), and circular stone house foundations on the Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia have been dated to about 9,000 years ago.

Influence on colonial roofing

Early European settlers learned from Aboriginal people which trees yielded good roofing bark, such as stringybark and box, and how to cure it, by soaking in salt water or smoking it over a fire so that it stayed flat. Bark roofs became common on colonial huts.

Later meaning

The word "humpy" later broadened to mean any makeshift shelter built from available materials, including canvas, flattened drums and corrugated iron.