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Australian Aboriginal homes vary depending on the region and the availability of resources. In the past, Aboriginal people were often nomadic, making semi-permanent camps depending on the availability of food and water. They used natural materials such as bark, wood, stone, and brush to build simple shelters with minimum effort. In some cases, they slept in the open, using campfires for warmth and comfort. In other cases, they built more elaborate structures, such as dome-style houses made of bamboo and grass, or stone huts with circular stone walls and dome roofs made of earth or sod cladding. Today, many Aboriginal people suffer from inappropriate and overcrowded housing conditions, with racial discrimination making it difficult to find rental properties.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Permanence | Many non-Indigenous people assumed that Indigenous Australians lacked permanent buildings, but this is a misconception. |
| Dwelling type | Aboriginal people have a different understanding of 'home' than non-Aboriginal people. 'Home' is not understood as a particular dwelling but rather where family comes together. |
| Housing conditions | Aboriginal people in Australia suffer from inappropriate and overcrowded housing conditions. |
| Housing access | Aboriginal families face difficulty finding rental properties due to racial discrimination in the real estate industry. |
| Building materials | Aboriginal people used locally available materials such as stone, wood, bark, brush, and leaves to construct their shelters. |
| Shelter type | Shelters varied from simple windbreaks to more elaborate structures, depending on the length of stay, available resources, weather, and time of year. |
| Shelter location | Aboriginal people often camped near water sources and in well-watered tropical regions, especially during the wet season. |
| Fire usage | Fires provided warmth and comfort, with small fires or campfires kept burning during cold nights. |
| Cave dwellings | Natural recesses and caves in rock formations provided shelter during the wet season and wet weather. |
| Stone structures | Some Indigenous Australian groups utilized stone engineering. The Gunditjmara people of Western Victoria built lava-stone homes with circular stone walls and dome roofs made of earth or sod cladding. |
| Dome-style structures | Some Aboriginal structures were of a "dome style," accommodating nuclear or extended families. |
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What You'll Learn
Aboriginal people have a different understanding of 'home'
Aboriginal people have suffered from inappropriate and overcrowded housing conditions. A report from Western Australia found that about 90% of homes in 130 communities needed major repairs, prompting the federal government to allocate nearly $2 billion for Indigenous housing between 2008 and 2018. However, builders often use solutions that work in coastal areas but not in remote Australia, leading to various defects. Additionally, complicated complaints processes and tenancy documents create challenges for Aboriginal tenants, and racial discrimination makes it difficult for many Aboriginal families to find rental properties.
Historically, Aboriginal people were nomadic, hunting and gathering food within their tribal boundaries. They made semi-permanent stops, camping for extended periods in places with abundant food and water. Their shelters were constructed using locally available resources and varied depending on the weather and time of year. During the wet or cold seasons, they built more substantial dwellings using materials like paperbark trees, stringy bark, and palm fronds. These dwellings could be simple lean-tos or more elaborate structures with frames made from branches or interlocking sticks.
In some regions, Aboriginal people constructed permanent stone structures. For example, the Gunditjmara people of Western Victoria built housing and complex systems of stone weirs and traps using basalt rocks. Their lava-stone homes featured circular stone walls over a metre high, topped with a dome roof made of earth or sod cladding. Aboriginal mounds, found near water sources or on higher ground, are evidence of long-term habitation and contain artefacts like charcoal, burnt clay, stone tools, and sometimes Aboriginal burials.
Despite misconceptions, Aboriginal people did build secure, permanent homes and practised agriculture to provide food for their communities. They also cared for their land without destroying the environment, as evidenced by their successful preservation of a freshwater stream in Warrane/Sydney Cove for countless generations.
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Stone engineering and structures
One notable example of stone engineering is the village discovered by Surveyor Alex Ingram in 1898 at Mount Eccles, south of Lake Condah. He described circular stone houses with roofs made of boughs and bark, as well as stone houses with bark and sapling roofs at Louth Swamp. The area around Lake Condah has been extensively studied, revealing stone channels, dams, fish traps, and over 100 stone dwellings and structures.
Another significant site is Nillan Gundidj village, recorded by the Aboriginal Protector George Robinson in 1842. This village featured a mix of stone and 'dirt' houses, with the stone houses having timber-framed domed roofs clad with sod. Archaeologist Sue O'Connor has also studied the settlement on Ngalawuru (High Cliffy Island), which includes numerous circular walls of quartz sandstone constructed pre-contact.
In addition to housing, Aboriginal people constructed stone arrangements for ceremonial and sacred purposes. These arrangements involve deliberately placing stones of various sizes to form shapes, patterns, or large structures like the Kooyang Stone Arrangement, which served as a gathering place to honour the life cycle of the eel. These stone arrangements hold spiritual significance for Aboriginal people, connecting them to their cultural heritage and traditions.
The use of stone in Aboriginal architecture extended beyond permanent structures. For example, in northern Australian woodlands, large trees with soft, stringy bark were chopped with stone axes and choppers to create waterproof housing frames. Stone walls were also utilised as 'hides' for hunting birds in the Basin of the Upper Victoria River, covered with timber rails and grass cladding.
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Semi-permanent pit houses
The traditional homes of Australian Aboriginals varied based on the region, the weather, and the resources available. In some parts of the world, Aboriginal people have historically lived in semi-permanent pit houses. Pit houses are dwellings built into a hole or depression in the ground. They are one of the most ancient types of human housing known to archaeologists.
In the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, the standard form of home was the semi-permanent pit house. Thousands of relics of these structures, known as quiggly holes, are scattered across the landscape. These pit houses were shaped like an upturned bowl, placed on top of a 3-4 foot deep pit. The bowl, made of wood, would be covered with an insulating layer of earth. The house would be entered by climbing down a ladder in the centre of the roof.
Pit houses were also common among the Indigenous peoples of the Plateau region of Canada. These pit houses were typically located at the eastern flanks of river valleys, where mountain slopes offered protection from the wind. The only entrance to these dwellings was at the top, reached by a ladder.
The oldest pit dwellings were discovered in Mezhyrich, Central Ukraine, and date back 15,000 years to the Upper Paleolithic age. These houses were made of mammoth bones, with a base that was circular or oval in shape. The houses had a hearth at the centre, with a stone slab to protect the ladder from burning.
In the 1890s, ethnologist James Teit recorded the design, construction techniques, and beliefs associated with the pit houses of the Nlaka'pamux community. Construction of these pit houses began with the careful measurement of the pit circumference, which ranged from 7.5 to 12 metres in diameter. The measured area was then dug out to a depth of about 1 metre, with outward-sloping side walls. Four logs were inserted into holes in the floor at an angle parallel to the excavation walls, supporting the four main roof beams. Roofing material was then latched on, from the outer circumference to the central smoke hole at the top of the structure.
Pit houses were also used by many of the ancient peoples of the American continents. These pit houses were built of poles and brush plastered with mud over a shallow pit in the earth.
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Shelters made from bark or wood
The shelters and huts built by Australian Aboriginal people were made from bark or wood. The type of structure depended on the availability of resources and the weather conditions. In the tropical north of Australia, people often camped in one location for several months, especially during the wet season. They used simple shelters made from bent-over stringy-bark or simple windbreaks made from leaves and branches. In northern Australian woodlands, large trees have relatively soft stringy bark that can be chopped away in large sheets and placed over a wooden frame to create a waterproof structure.
In dense rainforests, palm fronds were used instead of bark. The men would build the wooden frame while the women would collect the palm fronds. These shelters were also used in inland Australia, where they were covered with spinifex grass for insulation. In some cases, heaped earth was used as a foundation or to strengthen and insulate the walls.
A humpy or gunyah is a small, temporary shelter used by Australian Aboriginal people, made of branches and bark. These structures often lean against a standing tree for support.
The inside walls of bark shelters were often adorned with paintings and drawings, which are now regarded as Aboriginal rock art.
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Aboriginal homes and the impact of British settlement
Aboriginal housing and shelters depended on how long they intended to stay in a particular location, the available resources, the weather, and the time of year. Aboriginal people were nomadic, hunting and gathering food as they travelled within their tribal boundaries. They made semi-permanent stops, camping for days or weeks in one place, depending on the availability of food and water. In the well-watered tropical north of Australia, people often camped in one location for several months at a time during the wet season.
Aboriginal people built simple shelters using overlapping sheets of paperbark, leaves and branches, or stringy bark. They also slept beside rock outcrops or at the base of cliffs where the rock provided a windbreak. In addition, natural recesses and caves in sandstone, quartzite, and limestone rock formations provided shelter during the wet season.
The British settlement of Australia had a devastating impact on the Indigenous population. The Europeans believed the land was free to claim as there were no signs of ownership, such as fences or crops. As a result, they cleared land for farming and built towns along the east coast, fencing off the land and restricting Indigenous communities' access to clean water, hunting grounds, and food supplies. This forced Indigenous groups off their traditional lands, and many starved as they could no longer find enough food. British settlement also led to the destruction of sacred sites and the forced labour of Indigenous men and women. Furthermore, the loss of land and culture has had long-lasting effects on Aboriginal people, with many still experiencing disadvantages today.
The assumption that Aboriginal people lacked permanent buildings may have stemmed from Europeans' misinterpretation of Indigenous lifeways during early contact. Labelling Indigenous Australian communities as 'nomadic' allowed early settlers to justify taking over traditional lands, claiming that they were not inhabited by permanent residents. However, this notion has been challenged by evidence of stone structures built by Indigenous Australians, such as those of the Gunditjmara people in Western Victoria, who erected housing and complex systems of stone weirs and traps using basalt rocks.
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Frequently asked questions
Australian Aboriginal homes vary in appearance depending on the location, available resources, weather, and time of year. They can be made from bark, wood, stone, or a combination of these materials. Some homes are simple shelters, while others are more elaborate, with curved or dome-shaped roofs.
Aboriginal people have a different understanding of 'home' than non-Aboriginal people. While they may not consider a particular dwelling as their permanent home, they have a strong attachment to their traditional lands. Historically, Aboriginal people built secure, permanent homes using materials from their local area, and evidence suggests they have been doing so for countless generations. However, due to various factors, they also lived in semi-permanent dwellings and moved around within their tribal boundaries.
Aboriginal mounds are places where Aboriginal people lived for extended periods. They are usually found near water sources and contain artefacts such as charcoal, burnt clay, stone tools, and sometimes burial sites.
The design of Aboriginal homes was influenced by the need for warmth and protection from the elements. The availability of resources in a particular region also played a significant role, with materials like bark, wood, and stone being used based on what was easily accessible.
Aboriginal people in Australia face challenges due to inappropriate and overcrowded housing conditions. There is a shortage of suitable homes, and racial discrimination makes it difficult for some families to find rental properties. Additionally, complicated tenancy processes and a lack of interpreter services further contribute to the issue.
