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 often rely on a standing tree for support.

What does the Aboriginal word gunyah mean?

1 Australia : an aboriginal hut. 2 Australia : a small hut or crude shelter built for use in the bush the camp consisted of dome-shaped bough gunyahs, roofed with sacks— Francis Ratcliffe.

What language is gunyah?

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GUNYAH

From a native Australian language. Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.