Cabeza De Vaca Research Paper

The journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca is single handedly one of the most breath taking feats of exploration in the Americas. He departed Spain as a member of a royal Spanish expedition in hopes to colonize the mainland of the Spanish called La Florida, present day Florida. As a treasurer, he was one of the chief officers on the Narvaez expedition. Cabeza de Vaca ultimately departed from Spain for the Americas on June 1527. (pbs.org) (Americanjourneys.org)

The entire Narvaez crew spent the fall and winter months in Cuba, where his group suffered many losses as a result of desertions and a storm, Cabeza de Vaca even said "Because of winter and its inclemency, the many days we had suffered hunger, and the heavy beating of the waves , the

Powerful storms, unquenchable thirst and near death starvation had minimized the expedition to roughly eighty frail survivors when a deadly hurricane dumped Cabeza de Vaca and his companions on the Gulf coast near what is now Galveston, Texas. They attempted to repair the rafts, using what remained of their own clothes to plug holes, but they lost the rafts to a large wave and the harsh environment. As the number of survivors dwindled quickly they were enslaved for a couple years by several American Indian tribes of the northern Gulf Coast. These included the Hans and the Capoques, and tribes called the Karankawa and Coahuitecan. He found himself, for the first time in his life, in the company of a band of hunters and gathers. Most of the Indians Cabeza de Vaca had come across from the east of the Mississippi were chiefdom-based farmers, from whom the Spanish treasurer and his comrades had stolen food from countless times. The Indians lived on Galveston Island or Isla de Malhado (Island of Misfortune) as it was called by Cabeza de Vaca. He chose the name because after one more attempt at escape from the treacherous island, the raft sank and they had no other choice but to spend the winter on the island. (pbs.org) (texasbeyondhistory.net) (wikipedia.com)

Cabeza de Vaca wrote his own personal experiences with the Natives of Ameica and called such The Relcacion, or The Relation. In this incredible narrative, Alvar wrote about many experiences he came across in Galveston Island and his years of struggle. How he and the other 3 men nearly died and starved. He also wrote about his two years of being captive by the Han and Capoque American Indians for two very long years. Despite his struggles, Cabeza de Vaca kept an eye on the Indians and very carefully observed their customs and way of life. Throughout his eight years living with the Indians, he grew nothing but love and respect for them, even being fascinated by their distinct culture. Cabeza de Vaca even wrote the he did "merely a report of positions and distances, flora and fauna, but of the customs of the numerous indigenous people I talked with and dwelt among, as well as any other matters I could hear observe"