Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Cabeza de Vaca and Mary Rowlandson had very different views and attitudes towards Indians beliefs and culture. Much of the differences in their accounts can be attributed to the circumstance of their experiences and purpose of their narratives. Comparing Cabeza de Vaca’s and Mary Rowlandson’s situation makes one realize they have very different backgrounds. Cabeza de Vaca was an explorer who lived as a captive among various native Indian tribes for many years before escaping to Spanish settlements in Mexico. While Cabeza de Vaca wandered lost and miserable from tribe to tribe in search of his fellow Spaniards, he witnessed the customs and struggles of Indian life. Cabeza de Vaca opened his narrative, The Malhado Way of Life, with an open-minded…

Americas and discovered people that had already occupied the land. These people that the Europeans saw were called the Native Americans. At first, the Native Americans were skeptical about the Europeans; however they realized that these Europeans did not have the skills to survive in this land. Just as the Native Americans were beginning to trust the Europeans, the Europeans stole their land and made them the Native Americans their slaves. This resulted to both of these cultures indulging in…

Andres Resendez’s work A Land So Strange interprets Cabeza de Vaca’s journey across America as “an extreme tale of survival” in which he was able to bridge two different worlds in order to survive. Resendez’s central argument is that Cabeza de Vaca transformed over his journey across America from a conquistador with conquering intentions to a medicine man that advocated for diplomacy and alliance with the Indians. Resendez’s interpretation of Cabeza de Vaca’s transformation and commitment to a…

Historical Narrative Marcos De Velion was in Mexico because he was looking for slaves and he wanted to kill them. He was gathering the slaves because he was going to give them to the Spanish king. De Vaca did not help his father the slaves he just was there for there for the ride back to his home. When I found De Vaca he was very sick looking and weak. His clothes were all ripped and he was shaking. I helped De Vaca out by giving him food and warm clothes. De Vaca didn’t say much of anything…

How did Cabeza de Vaca survive? The age of exploration has sprung, we all know of the glory. Discovering a new world, exploring. But have you ever heard of what happens when that all falls apart? Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer or conquistador who left Spain to colonize the New World in 1527. He got shipwrecked near what is now Tampa Bay, FL and got lost. They decided to make rafts and try to sail to Mexico City, but got pushed ashore in a hurricane near modern day Galveston, TX. He was…

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative of his experiences with the Native Americans creates a unique contrast to many other narratives from this time period. The two greatest distinctions of Cabeza de Vaca were his understanding of cultural relativism and his approach towards bringing the natives to Christianity. Many of the first encounters with Native Americans created a great divide between the two groups, mostly due to outward appearance. The lavish clothing worn by Europeans created a…

Cabeza de Vaca, lonely, tired, and hungry crossed the cold, clear, river as the raging water slammed against his weak body. With every little step he took, the currents pulled him further and further away from his destination. His legs were weak and fragile from wading in the frigid water, where he could barely touch the bottom. In his weakened state, he could drown any moment from now. In the year of 1527, five ships set sail in search of new lands to establish new settlements. As the journey…

A Perspective View of the Native People in the New World Seen by the Eyes of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and John Smith When the first explorers arrived in America from Europe, they encountered many different indigenous peoples of the land. Every pioneer had their own experiences with the native people, varying from educational and boring to threatening and appalling. Many of the meetings became more and more intense as interactions between the explorers and natives became recurrent. These…

written words. As the years progressed so did the words. The writings from the Age of Discovery and the Age of Reason convey powerful feelings in the foundation of a new nation. While the literature produced by the authors during these time periods changes greatly in tone, the underlying sentiment of religious belief and a trust in God remains. In the introduction, the editor of this textbook wrote that “the period of European exploration in the Americas produced a surprisingly large and…

How Did Cabeza de Vaca Survive? Cabeza de Vaca is trekking through the humid green swamplands, and mosquito's are swooping into his nostrils for every breath he takes; he has to keep on going, or he will die. This is one of many challenges Cabeza de Vaca had to face in order to get back to Spanish colonization while he was exploring the land of Texas, and trying to find treasure and colonize. He had been through what many call the impossible, and hadn’t given up. Cabeza de Vaca survived by…