Gentle Art of Hunkering...

When I was Young, I asked my Dad why he squatted down, and he informed me that it was not squatting, it was called hunkering. He then just continued to go on about his business. He Hunkered for as long as he could, until age and arthritis caught up with him.

I read an article awhile back about The fine and gentle art of hunkering. It was set in the western US Nevada or Colorado I think. But it basically was about two men who hunkered. A little boy asked why they did that, and the story explained...

...That hunkering was a way of communicating at the same level. If you were the new man in town, and needed to know from the old codger how to do something, it was impolite and very rude to just go up and ask the old codger how to fix a plow. The proper way of manners was to say howdy, ask as to the health of his family, in short chit chat...When the new man was ready to ask, he didnt just come out and say "Tell me how to fix a plow" You had to ease into it gently, so as not to insult the old codger, you sloooooowly hunkered down and picked up a rock or two and bounced it casually down the road. By this time Old Codger KNEW there was a very important question coming, so to be polite, he too hunkered.


W.W. Brett Hunkering at Sunset Cliffs, Ca. 1941

Once the hunkering had begun, the new man had to hem and haw around a bit to get to the point. then He would say off handed, how he had broke his plow, and then look up and say "hey, dont you have one of those same plows? I was wondering if you could tell me how to fix it." Thus the old codger was given his proper place in the learning cycle, and the new man would get his information.

Hunkering around a campfire is something that we still do today, although it is much easier to hunker in a camp chair.

The dictionary also has another meaning in the description of the word. To Hunker down is to get ready for a long period of inactivity or safety. As in hunker down for the winter, or hunker down from the hurricane, or hunker down in your nice cozy bed.

I hunker down every so often, and when I do I remember my Dad hunkering. always with one foot bent and his butt resting on his heel, and the other foot flat on the ground, with his elbow resting on his knee. I smile.