Cultural Approach on F. Sionil Jose’s “Waywaya”

Waywaya is a short story written by the Filipino writer, F. Sionil Jose. It is originally written in Ilokano, Jose’s native language, and recreates the pre-Hispanic Philippine society (Goodreads, 2013). It is one of the many works of Sionil Jose that was translated into foreign languages, especially English, making Jose the most popular Filipino writer abroad among other Filipino authors -- of course, next to the greatest Filipino writer and patriot, Jose P. Rizal who was martyred in the struggle against Spanish domination (Yabes, 2013). Waywaya, according to F. Sionil Jose, himself, is based on a true story. He explained the story in his regular column, HINDSIGHT, in The Philippine Star (2012):

“Waywaya” is based on a true Papua New Guinea story. Georgina, the wife of the German ethnographer Ulli Beier who headed the Institute of PNG Culture in the early sixties related it. A man kidnapped a woman from an enemy tribe to be his slave but he fell in love with her. When she died, custom demanded that she be returned to her tribe. He did because he truly loved her. As expected, he was killed and eaten by the woman’s relatives.

Waywaya is the Filipino version, specifically Ilokano, of that Papua New Guinea story, with the Ilokano beliefs and traditions and the cultural strain reflected in the short story of Jose. The title itself (Waywaya) is an Ilokano word meaning “freedom” (Jose, 2012).

Biographical Background

Francisco Sionil Jose was born on December 3, 1924 in Rosales, Pangasinan. He was of an Ilocano descent whose family migrated to Pangasinan before his birth. The following information describes a short history of the Jose Family’s migration to the Pangasinan province:

Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong- Ilocano for the stone mortar for pounding rice. (Macansantos, 2007)

F. Sionil Jose, though he spent his childhood in Pangasinan, still lived an Ilocano-life because his forefathers brought with them their culture from Ilocos (the alsong for example).

The young Francisco was introduced to literature in the public school in his hometown and later in University of Santo Tomas. Accordingly in 1949, he began writing his short stories and eventually his novels while he was a journalist in Manila, and in 1965 F. Sionil started his own publishing house SOLIDARIDAD which later began publishing his remarkable Solidarity, “a journal of current affairs, ideas, and arts, still going strong today” (Makosinski, 2013).

In the following text, the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) states F. Sionil Jose’s Culture Profile as National Artist for Literature in 2001:

He was bestowed the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999; the Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for Literature in 1988; and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts in 1980. (Ncca.gov.ph, 2011)

            In addition, F. Sionil Jose “has been involved with the international cultural organizations, notably International P.E.N., the world association of poets, playwrights, essayists and novelists whose Philippine Center he founded in 1958” (Goodreads.com, 2013).

            With the information mentioned above, F. Sionil Jose is presented knowledgeable of both literature and culture, specifically of the Ilocanos.

            Historical Background

Waywaya’s setting is within the Ilocos Region. To begin with its historical background, we start with its geography. This information is from the National Historical Institute and Philippine National Historical Society:

North-western Luzon is bounded on the east by the Grand Cordillera Central, on the west by the Luzon Sea, on the north by the Babuyan Channel, and on the south by the foothills of the Caraballo mountain ranges, beyond which are the Central Luzon provinces of Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija. The land is generally narrow except for the northernmost land is generally narrow except for the northernmost province of Ilocos Norte, with small riverine valleys amidst hills and rolling terrain. (History from the People, 1998)

There had already been villages that are located along the coasts and the inland valleys before the Spanish Colonizers came in Ilocos. Moreover, Archaeological evidences found in various places had proved that Ilocos was extensively the trade market for the Chinese and other Southeast Asian peoples (History from the People, 1998).

A pre-colonial Philippine community is ruled by a leader or village chief who belongs to the noble class. He had wide powers for he exercised all the functions of the government – he has the executive, the legislator, and the judge. (Bachero, 2002). The leader will have his eldest child as predecessor. The following text explains the practice of succession of leadership in the pre-colonial community:

In matters of succession, the first son of the barangay chieftain succeeded his father if the first son died without leaving an heir, the second son succeeded as chieftain. In the absence of any male heir, the eldest daughter became chieftain.  (Bachero, 2002)

Aside from the noble class, where the chief belongs, there are also the freeman class and the dependent class. The freemen help the chief in endeavors that required common efforts such as going to battle, while the dependents, who were the lowest in the rank, serve as slaves. One may become dependent by: “being born to dependents of a certain type; being captured in battle; failing to pay a private debt or a legal fine” (Bachero, 2002).

In terms of their religious beliefs, the Ilokano community practices polytheism and animism. They believe in Anitos (spirits) and in deities which they call Apo (Lord). They have different Apos like Apo Langit (Lord Heaven), Apo Angin (Lord Wind), Apo Init (Lord Sun), Apo Tudo (Lord Rain), etc. (Llazon, 1978).

Ilokanos are known as hardworking people. They are also respectful and humble -- the marks of their Ilokano identity: “they live simply, concentrating on work and productivity” (Global-nomad.com, 2013). Because of this, Ilocos is known for its many industries, such as “tobacco, burnay (jars), bagoong (fish/shrimp sauce), basi and tapuy (rice wine), and weaving” (Nasud Philippines, 2013).

Regarding Ilokano food, it is “simple and requires minimal preparation time. It is also healthy, making use of lots of vegetables, usually boiled” (Nasud Philippines, 2013). One of the popular Ilokano dish is the pinakbet, which is:

…a mixture of vegetables such as squash, okra, eggplant, ampalaya, and string beans cooked with bagoong or shrimp sauce. (Global-nomad.com, 2013)

Pre-colonial communities practice several traditions such as the burial of the dead which they perform “outside the village limits, near upstream rivers or seacoasts” (Sagadraca, 2013), and pagtutuli or circumcision which is believed to have been introduced by the “Mohametans” (or Muslims) (Morga, qtd. in Ask a Filipino, 2010).

Discussion

Waywaya is set in “a time frame before the Spaniards came” in the Philippines (Jose, 2012) therefore it presents the culture of the pre-Hispanic Ilokanos living near the rivers of the region. F. Sionil Jose has used words that still retain the authenticity of the culture reflected in his work. According to him, an Ilokano teacher had told him that the teacher could feel the “Ilokano-ness” in his dialogues (2012). It is because he uses Filipinize English which he explains in the following paragraphs from his daily column in Philippine Star:

What I have done is Filipinize English. This has been difficult for language carries with it a whole baggage of nuances, culture and even ideology. I do not say apple green I say mango green, chico-brown. Our languages are symbolic but to translate literally phrases of common usage into English will make such phrases quaint. Hampas lupa in English it would be “whip the ground.”

An Ilokano teacher said that he could feel the Ilokano-ness in my dialogues. But more important was what the critic, Bien Lumbera said, that I belong to the vernacular tradition because my fiction embodies “searing social criticism” which characterizes our vernacular literature. This being so, then Rizal who wrote in Spanish   also belongs to the vernacular tradition. (Jose, 2012)

These being said, F. Sionil Jose’s use of the Ilokano words in Waywaya explains this Filipinize English and the Ilokano-ness in his dialogs. This will be further understood as we identify the cultural strains presented in F. Sionil Jose’s Waywaya.

We start with the pre-Hispanic Philippine society presented in Waywaya. The people in the short story lived in the land called Daya, located in the east. Correspondingly, these people are called Taga-Daya, individually, or Dayas, collectively. The Dayas have their enemy tribe, whom they call the Lauds, who live in the land of Laud in the west-side of the river beside the land of Daya. So, the tribes Daya and Laud are only separated by this “mighty river” and no Taga-Daya should cross this river because it is prohibited:

For one the river was there, a barrier to knowledge of new things, new sights, and perhaps a new life.

The rule of not crossing this river to the west is made by their leader called the Ulo. The Ulo, roughly translated to English as “The Head”, is a person who is most respected and loved in the tribe. The following paragraphs describe his magnificence:

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.

When Dayaw was still young he had looked upon the Ulo with awe; it had pleased him to know that his father was a leader, respected and loved, that it was he who led the warriors and had given the taga Daya a sense of unity their best defense against their enemies which had eluded them for years. With the years, however, he had also seen the panoply of power and of ceremony that had consumed the Ulo, that for all his avowals of justice, he was not beyond the reach of fawning relatives and panderers.

The Ulo’s role in the community is stated in this passage:

At this time of day, the Ulo would be in the community house, acting out his duties, dispensing advice and help to those who needed it, allocating seed rice for the next planting season as well as new plots to be cleared and new duties.

Dayaw is the Ulo’s son, and someday he will become the next Ulo if he becomes braver, stronger, and wiser than his father. However, he loves poetry and singing more than battle. But he is not a coward. He is also strong and intelligent. The following passage which can be found in the first paragraph of the short story marks this strength and bravery:

The first time Dayaw crossed the river, he felt fulfilled, as if he had finally passed the greatest test of all. It was so unlike that leap over the flaming pit the feat of strength that would have assured his father, the Ulo, that he was no weakling, that in spite of his seeming indolence and love of poetry and singing, he was capable nonetheless of courage as were the bravest warriors of Daya.

            However, Dayaw do not want anymore war for he already have Waywaya as his wife and he had seen the land of Laud when he caught Waywaya. The Ulo did not like this for a warrior and a future-Ulo like him must not think of peace first because at any time, the tribe’s enemy can attack them so they must be ready. This was expressed in the following lines:

Dayaw smiled. “she is wildcat but I can tame her. I will know more about Laud from her. But this I already know – the Taga Laud – they are like us and I think they want peace.”

“So do we,” the Ulo said. “But time has a momentum and we must be ready for war. Always. And you don’t prepare for war by reciting poetry and going on an adventure by yourself. . .”

This is not what his father, the Ulo, had expected of him. Dayaw was expected to be of a typical Daya warrior and an Ulo’s son. The Ulo was frustrated because Dayaw did not have any “Feeling for combat, for politics, for the craft of ruling”. It is through Dayaw that the cultural strains are reflected for he does not conform to community practices as inter-tribal wars. He only wants peace, but his act of capturing Waywaya will start war with the Taga-Lauds. Dayaw’s attitude is not a character of a typical warrior. Waywaya presents the cultural need of warriors in the pre-Hispanic setting for the purpose of tribal defense.

Warriors in Waywaya are men who are brave and strong. When they reach thirteen years old, they had to be circumcised first by a healer who annually travels the journey to the river. The Ilokano cultural tradition of circumcision is presented in the following sentence:

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 the strange mixture of tobacco and weeds with which he treated their wounds after he had circumcized them.

            There are also ceremonial rites before the young men became real men and warriors of the tribe.  These are stated in the next passage:

They had lighted the wide pit and the hay and the logs there were a roaring flame. They lined up the young men who would now be warriors, and one by one, they leaped across the chasm of fire.… The final test, after all, was when the warrior crossed the river.

            On the other hand, Dayaw, before he fell in love with Waywaya, exhibited his warrior attitude by making any women he captures as slaves. Waywaya became Dayaw’s slave after she has been captured while she bathes in the river with no companions. The following passage shows Dayaw’s skills in making slaves as a warrior of Daya:

His agile mind quickly devised a way by which he could capture her with her least resistance and trouble.         

It seemed that she would swim forever but finally, she made for her clothes. By then, Dayaw had crouched closer to her things and as she stooped to gather them, he rushed out and pinned her arms, clamping a band over her mouth.

            Slaves in Dayaw’s tribe are first paraded in town by the warrior who captured her. They wash pots, fan their master while he is sleeping, sleep at the corner of the kitchen, and do chores from sunup to sundown. The next passages show the cultural tradition of how slaves are treated in pre-Hispanic times:

His first impulse was to do what was customary, to strip her, parade her through the town and humiliate her…. But he did not undress her; he merely tied her wrist again, this time loosely, and then marched her in town…

…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.

Waywaya, like other non-slave women, knows the art of weaving. She was a free woman before she became a slave. She was also not an ordinary peasant but she belongs to a wealthy family. Through this, Jose’s Waywaya displays the traditional women of Ilokos as mistress of the weaving art and this passage shows it:

Waywaya asked if she could weave and Dayaw retrieved one of the old looms his grandmother had left, and there was enough cotton too and vegetable dye which she mixed in a way different from the women of Daya. She did not use the patterns from where she came; she fashioned new ones, using the primary reds and blacks of the Taga Daya and in time, she made trousers for Dayaw, for Parbangon and last of all, a dress for herself.

Such were the roles of the men and women of the tribe in Waywaya. On the other hand, traditional beliefs and practices are also reflected in the short story.

Waywaya mirrors the belief of the Ilokanos to the different kinds of deities which they refer as Apos. The people in Waywaya ,the Dayas, believe in “Apo Bufan”, translated in English as “Moon God” (Bufan means Moon), as shown in the following excerpt from the short story:

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, for while Apo Bufan showed the way, it would also reveal him to whoever watched the river.

            In addition, the Dayas also believe in “Apo Langit” (Heaven God) and “Apo Daga” (Sea God). The following lines show this:

Silence again, the soughing of the wind in the grass, crickets alive in the bushes. “It was Apo Langit that brought me there, that brought you there. It was Apo Langit that made you my slave.”

But why did she have to die? 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?

            In relation, the Dayas give offering to these gods to please them. The following line shows Dayaw, offering food for Apo Daga:

Dayaw made an offering to Apo Daga; apprehensive and frightened, he placed the bowl of glutinous rice with hard boiled eggs in the corner where she slept.

It is mentioned that their offerings to the gods are food.  Regarding food, Waywaya reflects the Ilokano traditional food which is mainly out of fruits or vegetables and sometimes rice with dried fish. The following lines show this:

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.

Vegetables or plants also serve as medicines to cure illness or wounds, like the “marunggay broth” that Parbangon prepared for Waywaya while she was having a fever. During feasts, another Ilokano practice, foods being prepared are out of animal meat like pigs “fattened in the pit before they were taken out for the feasts”. On one hand, the diet a warrior is bringing are “dried meat, rice cooked in coconut milk, salt and sugar, and the tubes of water”.

Another customary practice of Ilokanos reflected in Waywaya is the traditional burial of the dead. The people will prepare torches, perform ceremonies, form processions, dig holes, and cover the dead with earth. The following passage shows this practice:

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 a 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.

            An animal sacrifice is being performed like “pigs being butchered” and gongs being beaten in burials. Aside from the gongs, other instrument like the kutibeng was also showed in the short story. Dayaw plays the kutibeng and composes new songs instead of practicing for war, which can be observed in the following text:

         Dayaw loved his father and had not meant to appear disobedient, but through the years, his interest has veered; while the other youths would listen to the talk of the elders, he got bored and would go by himself to the forest or to the beach. 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.

These are the customary practices that the pre-Hispanic society was performing and were mirrored in F. Sionil’s Waywaya.

Trading, also, with the Chinese is also depicted in the story, for, of course, the Chinese had been trading their products with the Ilokanos’ before the Spaniards came. They were named by Sionil as “Narrow Eyes” in the story, as in this excerpt:

When the ships of the Narrow Eyes docked at the stone pier which they had built from coral, he had often wondered if they could take him so that the niggling doubts, the nagging sentiments would be banished forever. 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.

            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. It was presented in the last paragraph of the short story:

The chief did not answer and if he spoke. Dayaw did not hear. The gongs started again and them, from the women in the distance came a sound of wailing. Was it for him? In his heart, though he was afraid, he was glad. The forest awaited him _____________ as sunset, he knew that he would not reach the river.

            In conclusion, culture provides the influence to the plot and character interactions in F. Sionil Jose’s Waywaya.

Bibliography

Bacharo, Romeo C. Jr.. (2000). Pre-Colonial Philippines. Romeobacharo.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013 from http://romeobacharo.com/philhistory_precolonial.html

Culture. (n.d.). Global-nomad.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013 from http://www.global-nomad.com/ilocos_content/ilocos_culture.html

F. Sionil Jose – Literature (2001). (2011). Ncca.gov.ph. National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA). Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca/org-awards/literature/fsionil_jose.php

F. Sionil José. (n.d.). Goodreads.com. © 2013 Goodreads Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/252268.F_Sionil_Jos_

History from the People (Kasaysayan mula sa Bayan), Vol. 1. (1998). NHI Building, T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila, Philippines; Philippine Social Science Center, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. National Historical Institute and Philippine National Historical Society.

Jose, F. Sionil. (24 September 2012). To teachers: Why literature. Philstar.com | Philippine News for the Filipino Global Community. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://www.philstar.com/arts-and-culture/2012-09-24/852141/teachers-why-literature

Llamzon, Teodoro A. (1978). Handbook of Philippine Language Groups. Quezon City, Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Macansantos, Priscilla Supnet. (25 Apr 2007). A Hometown as Literature for F. Sionil José. INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://globalnation.inquirer.net/features/features/view/20070425-62431/A-Hometown-as-Literature-for-F-Sionil-Jos

Makosinski, Art. (n.d.). Francisco Sionil Jose. Uvic.ca. University of Victoria. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~amakosin/afsj.html

Morga, Antonio de, qtd. in Ask a Filipino. (2010 Dec 23). When was male circumcision first practised in the Philippines. Retrieved 24 July 2013 from http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/when-was-male-circumcision-first.html

Sagadraca, Tessie T.. (n.d.). Philippine History Part I, Presentation from Prof. Ueseni Gunsi-Gabriel (Peopling the Philippines & Pre-Colonial period). Slideshare.net. Retrieved 24 July 2013 from http://www.slideshare.net/babaylan1111/philippine-history-part-i

The Ilocos Region. (n.d.) Nasud Philippines. Retrieved 24 July 2013 from http://www.barkada.de/culture/ilokano.html

Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories by F. Sionil José. (n.d.). Goodreads.com. © 2013 Goodreads Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1722104.Waywaya

Yabes, Leopoldo Y. (n.d.). F(rancisco) Sionil Jose Biography (updated by Judson Knight). Brief Biographies. Copyright © 2013 Net Industries and its Licensors – All Rights Reserved. Retrieved 20 July 2013 from http://biography.jrank.org/pages/4741/Sionil-Jose-F-rancisco.html