Cabeza de Vaca was born in 1490 in the Spanish town of Jerez de la Frontera,near the port at San Lúcar de Barrameda, from where Magellan sailed in 1519 to become the first man to circumnavigate the globe. It was from San Lúcar de Barrameda that Cabeza de Vaca was to begin his first adventure in 1527.
In an expedition to conquer the recently discovered land of Florida. On June 17, 1527, Cabeza de Vaca and nearly 500 men set sail. He did not return to Spain until 1537, one of only four men from the entire expedition to survive storms, shipwreck, disease, starvation, attacks from Native Americans, and the blundering decisions of Narváez, and the only member to return to Spain. Upon his return he gave an official report to the Spanish king of
…show more content…
Within months, however, the men lost contact with the ships, and, short of provisions, began to die of starvation and tropical diseases. To make matters worse they were continually attacked by coastal Indian tribes. Deciding that their only chance of survival was to sail west toward what they believed was New Spain, the surviving 250 men fashioned five crude rafts and set sail from the Florida coast. Several of the boats sank when they were pushed far out to sea Cabeza de Vaca's raft with several dozen men managed to land on the eastern coast of present-day Texas. Gradually their numbers were reduced to just four men all of whom figure prominently in the written account. The bulk of the book describes how the four were captured and enslaved by Indians in Texas, their attempts to escape, and the turn of events that led from their enslavement to positions of high honor among their captors as the foreigners gained reputations as divine healers. The book then traces the long march across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, down through Sonora, Mexico, concluding as Cabeza de Vaca and his comrades are greeted as heroes by the Spanish viceroy in
Guillermo González Camarena was a Mexican electrical engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television, and who also introduced color television to Mexico,
From a proud Conquistador, to a castaway, a slave and trader, and then medicine man, Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to explore much of the southern coast of Texas. Cabeza was a 37 year old military veteran in 1527 when he left on the Narvaez Expedition to find gold and colonize the Gulf Coast. He was the expedition’s treasurer. Cabeza de Vaca was enslaved by Indians in 1528 when one of the rafts the crew made crashed on present day Galveston island, he then escaped in 1530 and joined/was enslaved by another tribe called the Charrucos until his escape with 3 other survivors in 1534. He then walked to Mexico City. Cabeza survived this ordeal because of the incredible patience he had, his skills of diplomacy and goodwill, and his amazing wilderness survival skills.
other guys and have no water and little to no food what so ever? In the spring of 1527, Cabeza De Vaca and his three partners left the country to sail The New World. The ships went of course and got stranded on an Island called modern day Galveston Island. Cabeza was the only one who survived because of his survival skills and ways to do nifty tricks. During the time Cabeza was a slave on Galveston Island, he survived for three reasons.
In 1528 a survivor, named Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, of the failed Spanish expedition
In "The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca", Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca’s fight for survival, while being deprived of the basic necessities of life, proves there is a change in him from the beginning of the narrative to the end. This transformation, though, affected multiple aspects of de Vaca, including his motives, character, and perspective of civilization. Cabeza de Vaca’s experience is crucial to the history of America, as well as Spain, because it was one of the first accounts that revealed a certain equilibrium between the mighty and superior Spaniard and the Indian, once the Spaniard was stripped of his noble stature. The idea of nakedness is consistent throughout the narrative and conveys the tribulations he experienced and a sort of balance between him and the Indians. The original intentions of conquering and populating the area between Florida and a northern part of Mexico quickly shifted Cabeza de Vaca’s focus to the need to survive. His encounter with different Indian tribes and ability to get along with them (no matter what the means), and then prosper as a medicine man, shows that through his beliefs in Christian faith, and in himself, he turned the failure into an unexpected success.
Adventures In The Unknown Interior of America, a narrative by Cabeza De Vaca, contains many pieces of information that are applicable to present day society and the culture that has been created. The values of today’s moral code and the moral code of those who lived in the fifteen-hundreds, whether or not they knew Spain as their mother country or America to be the only country, have similar qualities. Not only has moral code contained similar values but it also contains comparable accommodation to different cultures living among one another.
A man who had to devour anything he could see. A man who had to drink water from a horse container to survive. A man who had to make his own hole for warmth. That man was Cabeza de Vaca. During Cabeza de Vaca's expedition, he shipwrecked near present day Galveston Island, Texas. This caused a life threatening situation. Cabeza de Vaca survived his eight year journey for three reasons: his wilderness skills, his success as a healer, and his respect for the Native Americans.
In 1539 Hernando de Soto and five hundred adventurers began on a journey of exploration that would take 4 years and would travel through 10 states in the southeast United States. His goal was to discover a source of wealth, preferably gold, and around his mines establish a settlement. During his travels through La Florida he encountered numerous groups of native peoples, making friends of some and enemies of others. His expedition was not the first in La Florida; however, it was the most extensive. In its aftermath, thousands of Indians would die by disease that the Spaniards brought from the Old World. De Soto would initially be remembered as a great explorer but, would be later viewed as a destroyer of native culture. However, in truth de Soto was neither a hero or a villain but rather an adventurer.
Cabeza de Vaca stories is a conversion narrative, which the conversion is the between Cabeza de Vaca 's thoughts of the Native Americans. In the beginning of Castaways, Cabeza de Vaca did not interact with the natives as much as he does later in his story. In chapter three of his book, Castaways, he says that the Indians and his group, Spaniards did not get along. Once his group reached Florida he states:
A long time ago more than 500 years ago, there were Spanish Conquistadors who had landed in what is now referred to as central Mexico. Once here they stumbled upon populations of natives who were performing a customary celebration that appeared to simulate death. Dia de los Muertos initiated periods in the past in Mexico, where it is still commonly celebrated to this generation. This festival that takes place over 3 days is a assortment of pre-Hispanic ethnic views and Spanish Catholic philosophies. The Mexican celebration of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, proceeds over the initial 2 days in the month of November. Its beginnings are a concoction of Native American behaviors and a set of Catholic celebrations. The celebration concentrates
He eventually made it back to Paraguay and tried to set policies aligned with his new perception of humanity that benefited the Indians, but they chained him up and sent him to Spain. Had Cabeza de Vaca not been an advocate for the Indians, he would have remained in Paraguay. The consequences of the shift in his thinking of humanity, that the Indians should be treated as well as the Spaniards, were false charges of mistreating the Indians and being unable to return to the Americas. He stayed in Spain until his death in
Building simple rafts, using their clothing as sails, De Vaca, and what was left of the explorers, parted Florida. With barely any food left to consume, Cabeza de Vaca and what was left of the crew, made it to a coast near Galveston Island in Texas. De Vaca soon became quiet ill in the winter, thus residing on the mainland where many though he died. Only three of his members remained alive, the others either died or were attacked by Indians. Still living and recovering from his illness, de Vaca became a Texas merchant, and began trading items such as sea shells. He received food in exchange for treating the sick Indians, he even used his catholic religion to cure them, but when he refused to aid them, they took away his source
Many countries have the pleasure of celebrating Independence Days. These historic holidays are filled with nationalistic celebrations and delicious traditional food. In Chile, the natives celebrate their break from Spain with Fiestas Patrias. In Mexico, the president begins the celebration by ringing a bell and reciting the “Grito de Dolores” and he ends his speech by saying “Viva Mexico” three times.
On June 17, 1527, Cabeza de Vaca set sail on the order to conquer and govern the lands from the Rio Grande to the cape of Florida. However, during his journey he encountered much devastation such as the wrecking of his ship which resulted in his separation from the majority of his Christian companions. Praying to God after every ordeal, Cabeza routinely sought after his Christian religion to guide him through his unexpected journey. While traveling through the interior of America, he also encountered many native tribes which inhabited the land. While most of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century spread their religion through warlike ways and rearranged societies for the sole purpose of their own economic gain, Cabeza thought that kindness was the only way to win the hearts of the natives and without clothes or any material possessions, he upheld his promise and beliefs. After being enslaved by the natives Cabeza moved from tribe to tribe with the hope of finding his fellow Christians while praising and thanking God that his life was spared. Moving from tribe to tribe as a medicine man Cabeza still lived by his Christian teachings and implemented them into the way that he communicated with the natives, ultimately converting many tribes into Christianity. The religion of Christianity directly influenced the way in which Cabeza de Vaca interacted and felt toward the natives, thus throughout the duration of his time traveling across the interior of America, Cabeza was able to continually practice his religious beliefs while also being able to convert many Indians to his religion at the same time.
In 1511 King Ferdinand ordered Ponce de Leon replaced as governor by Diego Columbus. Life for Ponce de Leon would have been difficult if he stayed in Puerto Rico since much of his power over the island was taken when his rank was taken away. It was at this time that Ponce de Leon began his search for the Fountain of Youth. Many historians feel it was not only to discover the LENGENDARY waters, but also for the gold and silver that was supposed to be at the sight of the fountain. Ponce de Leon explored many regional islands in his search for the Fountain of Youth, including the Bahamas and Bimini.