Dayaw is From Daya He Kidnaps a Woman

8/18/2019 Dayaw is From Daya He Kidnaps a Woman

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Dayaw is from Daya he kidnaps a woman (Waywaya) - at rst no

given name, from the neighboring land, Laud. he woman be!omes

his slave. hey produ!e a son. "t turns out that the woman was the

daughter of the !hieftain of Laud.he people of Daya and Laud have

long been warring tribes. Waywaya dies. Dayaw with his youngerbrother #arbangon, against their father$s wishes (their father is

stated throughout the story as the %lo or in &ilipino, means the head

or !hief, yes their father is the !hief of Daya - so they are like

prin!es of Daya) goes to Laud to talk to the !hief - Waywaya$s

father, about pea!e between the two tribes. Dayaw knows that the

people of Laud will or may both kill them, he has a feeling that

death will !ome to them and that pea!e was absolutely un!ertain. 't

the end, it is unknown whether Dayaw was able to !ome ba!k to

Daya.

Waywaya is a book written by #hilippine author &. ionil ose. "t

!onsists of ** short stories, all of them revolving around the pre-

+ispani! so!iety in he #hilippines. he word $waywaya$ means

$freedom$, is the name of one of these short stories and is also the

name of the protagonist of the story, a young woman who is

abdu!ted by a man named Dayaw and who belongs to a !ommunitythat is at odds with hers. he people in Dayaw$s !ommunity don$t

a!!ept her and she dies after giving birth to a !hild. Dayaw takes

her body ba!k to her native people and let them kill him as a

punishment.

Waywaya is the name of a young woman abducted by a young

man called Dayaw, who lives in a neighboring community, a longtime enemy of hers.

Dayaw’s people fear revenge from her community, but nothinghappens. She is not accepted by Dayaw’s people at all. Then, shegives birth to a boy; but she dies immediately afterwards. This


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seems to spark Dayaw to take resolute action to end hostility andhate between the two communities once and for all. How Hetakes the dead body back to her community, and at the end helets himself be killed !not that e"plicit# by her community

warriors. The story ends there. This seems to be a $blood forblood% type solution.

So, ever&lasting peace came upon the societies ' remark by(aywaya’s community chief may give some indication) $There issomething about an old tree, it grows no more. 't the same time,it is difficult to cut it down. *ay be it is right that new treesshould grow++%

'nd lastly,(aywaya means $freedom% in the author’s own tongueof lokano.

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 (oodreads, !"#$%. It is one o& the 'any wors o& Sionil Jose that

was translated into &oreign languages, especially )nglish, 'aing Jose the 'ost popular

Filipino writer abroad a'ong other Filipino authors -- o& course, ne*t to the greatest

Filipino writer and patriot, Jose P. +ial who was 'artyred in the struggle against

Spanish do'ination (abes, !"#$%. Waywaya, according to F. Sionil Jose, hi'sel&, is

based on a true story. He e*plained the story in his regular colu'n, HI/SIH0, in 0he

Philippine Star (!"#!%123aywaya4 is based on a true Papua ew uinea story. eorgina, the wi&e o& the er'an ethnographer 5lli 6eier who

headed the Institute o& P 7ulture in the early si*ties related it. 8 'an idnapped a wo'an &ro' an ene'y tribe to be his

slave but he &ell in love with her. 3hen she died, custo' de'anded that she be returned to her tribe. He did because he

truly loved her. 8s e*pected, he was illed and eaten by the wo'an’s relatives.

Waywaya is the Filipino version, speci&ically Iloano, o& that Papua ew uinea

story, with the Iloano belie&s and traditions and the cultural strain re&lected in the short

story o& Jose. 0he title itsel& (Waywaya% is anIlokano word 'eaning 2&reedo'4 (Jose,

!"#!%.


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Biographical Background

Francisco Sionil Jose was born on /ece'ber $, #9!: in +osales, Pangasinan.

He was o& an Ilocano descent whose &a'ily 'igrated to Pangasinan be&ore his birth.

0he &ollowing in&or'ation describes a short history o& the Jose Fa'ily’s 'igration to the

Pangasinan province1Fleeing poverty, his &ore&athers traveled &ro' Ilocos towards 7agayan ;alley through the Santa Fe 0rail.


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0here had already been villages that are located along the coasts and the inland

valleys be&ore the Spanish 7oloniers ca'e in Ilocos. =oreover, 8rchaeological

evidences &ound in various places had proved that Ilocos was e*tensively the trade

'aret &or the 7hinese and other Southeast 8sian peoples (History from the People,

#99D%.

8 pre-colonial Philippine co''unity is ruled by a leader or village chie& who

belongs to the noble class. He had wide powers &or he e*ercised all the &unctions o& the

govern'ent E he has the e*ecutive, the legislator, and the ?udge. (6achero, !""!%. 0he

leader will have his eldest child as predecessor. 0he &ollowing te*t e*plains the practice

o& succession o& leadership in the pre-colonial co''unity1In 'atters o& succession, the &irst son o& the barangay chie&tain succeeded his &ather i& the &irst son died without leaving an

heir, the second son succeeded as chie&tain. In the absence o& any 'ale heir, the eldest daughter beca'e

chie&tain. (6achero, !""!%

8side &ro' the noble class, where the chie& belongs, there are also the &ree'anclass and the dependent class. 0he &ree'en help the chie& in endeavors that reuired

co''on e&&orts such as going to battle, while the dependents, who were the lowest in

the ran, serve as slaves. Bne 'ay beco'e dependent by1 2being born to dependents

o& a certain typeC being captured in battleC &ailing to pay a private debt or a legal &ine4

(6achero, !""!%.

In ter's o& their religious belie&s, the Iloano co''unity practices polytheis' and

ani'is'. 0hey believe in Anitos (spirits% and in deities which they call Apo (


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Discussion

Waywaya is set in 2a ti'e &ra'e be&ore the Spaniards ca'e4 in the Philippines

(Jose, !"#!% there&ore it presents the culture o& the pre-Hispanic Iloanos living near the

rivers o& the region. F. Sionil Jose has used words that still retain the authenticity o& the

culture re&lected in his wor. 8ccording to hi', an Iloano teacher had told hi' that the

teacher could &eel the 2Iloano-ness4 in his dialogues (!"#!%. It is because he uses

Filipinie )nglish which he e*plains in the &ollowing paragraphs &ro' his daily colu'n in

Philippine Star13hat I have done is Filipinie )nglish. 0his has been di&&icult &or language carries with it a whole baggage o& nuances,

culture and even ideology. I do not say apple green I say 'ango green, chico-brown. Bur languages are sy'bolic but to

translate literally phrases o& co''on usage into )nglish will 'ae such phrases uaint. Ha'pas lupa in )nglish it would be

2whip the ground.4

8n I loano teacher said that he could &eel the Iloano-ness in 'y dialogues. 6ut 'ore i'portant was what the critic, 6ien


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8t this ti'e o& day, the 5lo would be in the co''unity house, acting out his duties, dispensing advice and help to those who

needed it, allocating seed rice &or the ne*t planting season as well as new plots to be cleared and new duties.

/ayaw is the 5lo’s son, and so'eday he will beco'e the ne*t 5lo i& he beco'es

braver, stronger, and wiser than his &ather. However, he loves poetry and singing 'ore

than battle. 6ut he is not a coward. He is also strong and intelligent. 0he &ollowingpassage which can be &ound in the &irst paragraph o& the short story 'ars this strength

and bravery10he &irst ti'e /ayaw crossed the river, he &elt &ul&illed, as i& he had &inally passed the greatest test o& all. It was so unlie that

leap over the &la'ing pit the &eat o& strength that would have assured his &ather, the 5lo, that he was no wealing, that in

spite o& his see'ing indolence and love o& poetry and singing, he was capable nonetheless o& courage as were the bravest

warriors o& /aya.

However, /ayaw do not want any'ore war &or he already have 3aywaya as his

wi&e and he had seen the land o&


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Bn the other hand, /ayaw, be&ore he &ell in love with 3aywaya, e*hibited his

warrior attitude by 'aing any wo'en he captures as slaves. 3aywaya beca'e

/ayaw’s slave a&ter she has been captured while she bathes in the river with no

co'panions. 0he &ollowing passage shows /ayaw’s sills in 'aing slaves as a warrior

o& /aya1

His agile 'ind uicly devised a way by which he could capture her with her least resistance and trouble.

It see'ed that she would swi' &orever but &inally, she 'ade &or her clothes. 6y then, /ayaw had crouched closer to her

things and as she stooped to gather the', he rushed out and pinned her ar's, cla'ping a band over her 'outh.

Slaves in /ayaw’s tribe are &irst paraded in town by the warrior who captured her.

0hey wash pots, &an their 'aster while he is sleeping, sleep at the corner o& the itchen,

and do chores &ro' sunup to sundown. 0he ne*t passages show the cultural tradition o&

how slaves are treated in pre-Hispanic ti'esHis &irst i'pulse was to do what was custo'ary, to strip her, parade her through the town and hu'iliate her. 6ut he did not

undress herC he 'erely tied her wrist again, this ti'e loosely, and then 'arched her in town

and while the slave girl washed the pots outside, she closed the ba'boo door and welco'ed hi' in the way he had

e*pected it. 3hen he woe up,


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Silence again, the soughing o& the wind in the grass, cricets alive in the bushes. 2It was 8po


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0rading, also, with the 7hinese is also depicted in the story, &or, o& course, the

7hinese had been trading their products with the Iloanos’ be&ore the Spaniards ca'e.

0hey were na'ed by Sionil as 2arrow )yes4 in the story, as in this e*cerpt13hen the ships o& the arrow )yes doced at the stone pier which they had built &ro' coral, he had o&ten wondered i& they

could tae hi' so that the niggling doubts, the nagging senti'ents would be banished &orever. However, a&ter the arrow

)ye had loaded the tobacco and the rice in e*change &or nives, plates and beads, they would leave and he would not eventarry to as that they tae hi'.

Waywaya by F. Sionil Jose presents a story that is set in a pre-Hispanic Iloano

society which depicts their cultural belie&s and practices. Iloano culture is an i'portant

part o& the plot &or it in&luences the characters and events in the short story. /ayaw’s

want o& crossing the river re&lects his pressure in proving to his &ather, the Ulo, that he

was not a coward, that he has the courage to tae riss, because he is going to beco'e

the ne*t Ulo. 7ulture also in&luences the capture o& 3aywaya’s to be a slave o& the other

tribe, and to be a reason o& a ne*t battle between the 0aga-/ayas and the 0aga-

Dayaw is From Daya He Kidnaps a Woman

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