De Vaca was born into Spanish
nobility two years before Columbus voyaged to the Americas. Between birth and
his expedition to America, little is known about him, except that his career
was in military. In 1527, De Vaca wentto North America on a royal expedition, chosen by the king to be second in
command as Provost Marshall and Treasurer, in order claim the mainland from
Florida to Mexico as Spanish territory.This expedition was filled with numerous disasters, including the desertion of
many members of the crew, hurricanes that killed members of the crew and caused
ships to become lost, and finally the desertion of the leader of the
expedition, Narvaez. Following these tragic events, only three men, along with
De Vaca survived. Initially, De Vaca was a prisoner on the Texas Coast, but he
eventually escaped and gained respect among Native tribes as a merchant and
healer. “The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca”
was published both in 1542 and 1555 and primarily dealt with his sufferings in
the American West and his perspective and experiences with the Capoques, Hans,
Avavares and Arbadaos (Native tribes).
One aspect of Capoques and Hans
culture that de Vaca found interesting was the love that they had for their
children. This is discussed under the heading “[The Malhado Way of Life].” “If
a son dies, the whole village joins the parents and kindred in weeping. The
parents set off the wails each day before dawn, again at noon, and at sunset,
for one year. The funeral rites occur when the year of mourning is up.” De Vaca
goes on to relay that this type of ritual is not held for the elderly when they
die because it is believed that they “merit no regrets.”
De Vaca depicts the natives as
generous, even when they have little to give. Throughout de Vaca’s journey,
food was scarce. While with the Capoques, de Vaca says “Sometimes I would have
to go three days without eating and three months out of the year they eat
nothing but oysters and drink very bad water.” Even upon escaping from the
Capoques and joining the Avavares and Arbadaos tribes in inland Texas, finding
food became even more of a challenge. Three paragraphs prior to the heading
“[Pushing On],” de Vaca says that the Avavares would “devote their full time to
finding food.” Times became so desperate, that de Vaca and the Avavares had to
resort to eating dogs they had acquired (conveyed in the first sentence of the
section [Pushing On]). In the first paragraph under “[Customs of that Region]”
de Vaca conveys that the lack of food, possibly combined with the level of love
shown to offspring, caused children to be suckled until they were twelve.
Eventually, de Vaca would come across
his own countrymen. However, when de Vaca told the natives they could leave him
with his fellow Spaniards, they refused. The sixth paragraph under the heading
“[The Falling-Out With Our Countrymen]” reads as follows: “Alcaraz [a fellow
Spaniard] bade his interpreter tell the Indians that we were members of his
race who had been long lost. The Indians paid no attention to this. They
replied, that we had come from sunrise, they from sunset; we healed the sick,
they killed the sound; we came naked and barefoot, they clothed; we coveted
nothing but gave whatever we were given, while they robbed whomever they found
and bestowed nothing on anyone.” This demonstrates that the Natives did not
view people based on this modern idea of race, but rather on their character.
Judgement based on character rather
than race is one of America’s bedrock values, according to the Associated Press. However, judgement on race rather than character remains
prevalent in today’s society. Often natives are depicted as inferior in the
writings of Europeans, such as Columbus, but this situation shows otherwise.
There is something to be learned from the Native Americans for, as Dr. Kingwould say, they judged men not by the color of their skin, but the content oftheir character.
I belive De Vaca’s perspective of
the Natives changed greatly because he was put in a position in which he had to
not only live among them, but depend on them for his survival. Although he
initially set out to claim land for Spain, he left “urging the crown for a more
generous policy” concerning the treatment of Native Americans. He came to see
the natives as human beings, even though it cost him a position of territorial
governor. This is an important piece to the canon because it comes from the
first man from the “old world” to venture into the American west giving an
account of the lifestyles of the natives who lived in present day Texas.
"Alvarez Nunez Cabeza De
Vaca." PBS. PBS, 2001. Web. 13
Sept. 2016.
"American Journeys Background
on The Journey of Alvar Nuez Cabeza De Vaca." American Journeys Background on The Journey of Alvar Nuez Cabeza De
Vaca. Wisconsin Historical Society, n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
"MLK's "content of
Character" Quote Inspires Debate." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 2013. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good summary of De Vaca. However, your piece would be stronger if you made an argument about him, one that would distinguish him from other New World explorers. You mention that he was born as Columbus was making his voyage – what makes him different than Columbus? Finally, be sure to spell check.