Australian settler bush huts and Indigenous bark-strippers

Origins and influences

Authors

  • Ray Kerkhove University of Queensland
  • Cathy Keys University of Queensland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2020.1

Keywords:

Australian bush hut, bark sheeting, ‘bark strippers’

Abstract

This article considers the history of the Australian bush hut and its common building material: bark sheeting. It compares this with traditional Aboriginal bark sheeting and cladding, and considers the role of Aboriginal ‘bark strippers’ and Aboriginal builders in establishing salient features of the bush hut. The main focus is the Queensland region up to the 1870s.

Author Biographies

  • Ray Kerkhove, University of Queensland

    Ray Kerkhove worked with the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre in the Department of Architecture at the University of Queensland in 2019. Previously, he was a Visiting Fellow in the Harry Gentle Resource Centre at Griffith University between 2017 and 2018. Ray’s work focuses on southern Queensland’s Indigenous material culture and history.

  • Cathy Keys, University of Queensland

    Cathy Keys is a Research Fellow in the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland. Her research explores the social, cultural and historical properties of Australian vernacular architecture.

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‘Protection of Aborigines’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 1893, p. 5.

Published

2020-06-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Kerkhove, R., & Keys, . C. (2020). Australian settler bush huts and Indigenous bark-strippers: Origins and influences. Queensland Review, 27(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2020.1