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“Daya, after all, was hemmed in to the east by the sea, vast and mysterious, and to the west, this
mighty river, for beyond it was forest and mountain, land of the Laga Laud, the ancient and
indomitable enemy of his people.” It was during the Pre-Hispanic Era when the Story of
Waywaya was set. According to the citation above, there are two rival lands, the west and the
east in which the protagonist lives and has a part of what they so called, in the story, the royal
family. The west was called the Land of Laga Laud while the east is Daya. The citation below is
from the very writing of Jose as he discusses a topic. The article is entitled, “Mayabang,
Overacting and Baroque – What are We?”“I wrote a story called Waywaya. In my native
Ilokano, waywaya means freedom. The setting is pre-Hispanic. Two scholars read the
manuscript; our cultural anthropologist, F. Landa Jocano, told me to remove the flowers on the
heroine’s hair – that is Polynesian. The historian, William Henry Scott, told me to change her
brass bangles into gold – there was plenty of the metal in the islands then. He added that the
Chinese traders bartered iron rims for their chariot wheels, pearls, cotton. Indeed, the Newberry
Library in Chicago has the earliest record of my people as drawn by a Chinese artist. It shows
our women wearing necklaces, bracelets, fine clothes, even shoes. When the Spaniards came in
1521 in search of gold and spices, they chanced upon a disparate people waging war on each
other. The divisiveness continues to this very day. At the time, royal lineages, well ordered
bureaucracies and sophisticated cultures already existed in continental Asia, in Japan (Jose,
Hindsight, 2004).” Ilocano tribe’s culture is featured in the story of Waywaya. During the pre-
Hispanic period, tribal wars were eminent. Invasions by groups with superior weapons and a
number of men drove these natives into the mountains wherein they still thrive until today.
People from the neighboring provinces as well as from other countries reach the province
through business activities or trading. Intermarriage was also a factor for the growing number of
Tagalogs, Visayanos, Bicolanos, Pampagueños, Chinese and Bombays. Summary of the Story
Dayaw was among the “sovereign family” who governs the land of Daya. This land is situated
into the east where the sea is also located. A mighty river divided the entire setting into two
lands. The inhabitants of these two lands, Dayas and Lauds, are long-time enemies and a rule is
devised that whosoever crosses the river will be killed at once.Dayaw is a man of adventure and
fine thoughts. Once, he wandered through the forest and also beyond the river out of curiosity.
He lasted there for three nights and in the morning of the fourth day, after he had gone to sleep,
he saw “a girl lovely as morning and just as fair”. He captured her and had her as his slave. He
paraded her in their land and the tribesmen mock at her because of the fact that she is from Laud.
The girl was named Waywaya. She now resides at Daya’s house and does household chores. In
the long run, though Daya has a girl named Liwliwa who spent nights with him, he pursues for
Waywaya. Because of Waywaya’s radiant beauty and kindness, Daya falls for her and they had a
child. Ulo and Pintas, the father and mother of Dayaw, doesn’t like Waywaya because she’s a
slave and an enemy (they preferred Liwliwa). But with all of these hindrances, she bore a child
and in delivering him, she unfortunately died. With the death of his love, Dayaw decides to bring
the body of Waywaya to Laud. He wants her to have a decent burial in her own land. After all
the lamentations, Dayaw then crosses the river. He is afraid but he is glad; he knows what will
happen to him.Cultural Approach Ilocanos’ culture is the environment where the story of
Waywaya has enacted. Dayaw, Parbangon, Waywaya and all of the characters in the short story
belong to the Ilocano tribe. The setting also proves that, indeed, the story has the framework of
Ilocano tribe.The Ilocano people are indigenous to coastal areas of northern Luzon in the
Philippines. Today, the Ilocanos are the dominant ethnic group in northern Luzon, and their
language (Ilocano) has become the lingua franca of the region, as Ilocano traders provide
highland peoples with their primary link to the commerce of the outside world (Ilocanos, 1999).
Ilocandia is the term given to the traditional homeland of the Ilocano people; present-day
Ilocandia roughly encompasses regions 1 through 3 of the Philippines (the Ilocos Region,
Cagayan Valley, and parts of Central Luzon), as well as the Cordillera Administrative
Region.The following are the cultural strains found within the story:They practice circumcision.
Such practice is done to boys of any age but preferably boys of near puberty or younger. A
healer does this kind of process. Here follows a citation from the short story:“There, on the sandy
bank, behind the tall reeds that had flowered with plumes of dazzling white, they lined up,
squatting while the healer sharpened his knife and prepared a strange mixture of tobacco and
weeds with which he treated their wounds after he had circumcised them.” There is also a ritual
or practice wherein the boys of the tribe should undergo in order for them to be acknowledged as
a man.“He was no weakling, but while the other youths practiced the arts of war and exercised
for the great leap that would transform them into men, he played with his kutibeng and took
pleasure in composing new songs.”“They lined up the young men who would now be warriors,
and one by one, they leaped across the chasm of fire.” When going out to the wild, they have
some practice to follow.“He had made the crossing at night after he had blackened his face and
body with soot, carrying with him nothing but a coil of maguey twine and his long knife, he had
dashed from the cover of reeds near the river's bank…” The tribeswomen have tattoos and wear
sack dresses, sandals and bangles of gold. It is apparent at Waywaya when she was first seen by
Daya.“A fine, blue tattoo of flower designs ran in a hin line down her arms to her wrists.”“She
knelt down before the rim of the pool and gazed at her reflection there, then stood up, untied the
knot of her blue sack dress on her shoulder and let it slip down to her feet.”“With her sandals,
her bangles of gold, she was no simple peasant; she must come from the upper class of Laud”
Those garments and accessories which Waywaya wears prove that she is from the upper class of
the Lauds. It also denotes that there are also social class in their tribe. If a tribesman captures an
enemy, like what happened to Dayaw and Waywaya, the following customs are to happen and in
which the procedure goes:“His first impulse was to do what was customary, to strip her, parade
her through the town and humiliate her. The swelling of her jaw was subsided and its place was a
dark bruise. Her wrists had bled when the twine was cut. But he did not undress her; he merely
tied her wrist again, this time loosely, and then marched her in town.” The duties of a slave are to
clean the pots, arrange the firewood rack and etc… here is a citation:“and while the slave girl
washed the pots outside, she closed the bamboo door and welcomed him in the way he had
expected it. When he woke up, Liwliwa had gone his slave was in the room, fanning with him a
small palm leaf. He showed her where she should sleep, a corner of the kitchen, among the fish
traps and cooking pots, and told her what her chores would be, from sunup to sundown.” The
tribeswoman use coconut oil for their hair. “Her hair was glossy with coconut oil..” Ilocanos
cooking is simple and requires minimal preparation time. It is also healthy, making use of lots of
vegetables, usually boiled. Some of the more popular dishes are pinakbet, inabraw and
dinengdeng. The tribesmen as to the short story eat as what cited next;“Liwliwa came shortly
after noon with a bowl of eggplants, and bitter melons cooked with tomatoes, onions and dried
fish, and a pot of rice.” A tribe must also have a leader and for the tribe of Daya, the father of
Dayaw reigns as their leader. The following citation presents how the tribesmen looks at their
leader. “Still, he was the Ulo, the repository of wisdom and strength until that time when
someone braver, stronger and wiser would lead them to battle.” They believe in gods. They call
them “Apo”.“O Apo Langit, O Apo Daga – all of you who shape the course of time and the
destiny of men, what wrong has she done?”““It was Apo Langit that brought me there, that
brought you there. It was Apo Langit that made you my slave.””“for while Apo Bufan showed
the way, it would also reveal him to whoever watched the river.” Ilocanos are known for their
industries, such as tobacco, burnay (jars), bagoong (fish/shrimp sauce), basi and tapuy (rice
wine), and weaving. They barter it to the Chinese merchants with knives, gongs, beads and
plates.“However, after the Narrow Eye had loaded the tobacco and the rice in exchange for
knives, plates and beads, they would leave and he would not even tarry to ask that they take
him.” They like to sing and recite poems. They use an instrument called kutibeng to accompany
them.“…he played with his kutibeng and took pleasure in composing new songs…” ““I like to
sing. I make my own songs. Listen.” He quickly formed the lines and gave a tune to them: “The
river is deepBut we can ford it. Who will make the bridge? Perhaps love will do it. Perhaps time
will prove it…””They practice burial. When Waywaya died, Dayaw left his village and went to
Laud together Parbangon to honor her. Even before they entered the village, people of Laud
appeared from everywhere. There were wailing and such grief emanated from the
household. “All around them the huge pine splinter torches had been ignited and they cast a red
glow over the crowd; it was time to do the final ceremony and they rose – just him and her
family, and they formed a small procession to the side of the mountain where the hole had
already been dug. They let him shove her coffin within the; they pushed a boulder at the entrance
to the burial place and covered it with earth. Waywaya’s mother planted before it a few strands
of ramos – they would grow, tall and purple.” The Ilocano culture represents very simple,
sometimes Spartan day-to-day living, focusing mostly on work and productivity, spending only
on necessities and not on so much on ostentatious material possessions. Ilocanos also exemplify
Waywaya by F. Sionil Jose presents a story that is set in a pre-Hispanic Ilokano society which
depicts their cultural beliefs and practices. Ilokano culture is an important part of the plot for it
influences the characters and events in the short story. Dayaw’s want of crossing the river
reflects his pressure in proving to his father, the Ulo, that he was not a coward, that he has the
courage to take risks, because he is going to become the next Ulo. Culture also influences the
capture of Waywaya’s to be a slave of the other tribe, and to be a reason of a next battle between
the Taga-Dayas and the Taga-Lauds. In addition, culture provides the concept of worshipping
gods for guidance and help such as Dayaw’s faith in Apo Bufan who will guide his way in the
night, Dayaw’s belief that Apo Langit destined him and Waywaya, and Dayaw’s offering of food
to Apo Daga for Waywaya’s recovery. Culture is also depicted as to how simple the Ilokano
food is with just only simple ingredients as vegetables and fruits and how the people prepare for
the feasts like the fattening of the pig months before the feast. Some practices were also depicted
in the story like the circumcision of the boys to become real men, the burial of the dead which
includes pigs being butchered and gongs being beaten. Moreover, culture became the basis of
conflict within the stories characters. Because Dayaw had Waywaya as his wife and he also had
seen the land of Lauds, he wanted to have peace and not conform to the culture of tribal battles
because he knows that the other tribe also wanted peace like them and he also does not want to
be the Ulo because he is not interested to be. However, the story of Waywaya presented that
culture and tradition are strictly followed. When Waywaya died, and her corpse was delivered by
Dayaw at the land of the Taga-Lauds, the Taga-Laud still killed the tribe’s enemy because it is
their tradition to kill the people of the other tribe when they dare cross the boundary.