Tanya Barragan
Scott Lankford
English 48A
Scott Lankford
English 48A
Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca
AUTHOR’S QUOTE
“After this we had a hot argument with them, for they meant to make slaves of the Indians in our train. We got so angry that we went off forgetting the many Turkish-shaped bows, the many pouches, and the five emerald arrowheads, etc., which we thus lost. And to think we had given these Christians a supply of cowhides and other things that our retainers had carried a long distance.” (47)
INTERNET QUOTE
“Throughout his tenure in Río de la Plata Cabeza de Vaca became well-known and sometimes disliked by his fellow colonists for his partiality toward Indians of the province, requiring that they be paid for goods and services and that they not be molested or abused. It seems likely that this attitude toward native people developed during Álvar Núñez's travel across the North American continent in the 1530s.”
SUMMARY
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca writes in The Relation to the Sacred Caesarian Catholic Majesty, about his lost years and his finds of land and people that he saw and experienced. He writes of the people/Indians that he encountered and their descriptions and way of life. He also writes how at first, many of the Indians were fearful but welcomed and gave them all they could. He tells of his life with the three men he was with and how they lived, ate, and experienced exactly the way the Indians lived. But he mainly writes how he befriended these Indians and learned a lot from them and their way of life and that others did not feel and think the same for them and only wanted them as slaves.
YOUR IDEAS/REACTIONS/RESPONSES TO THE AUTHOR’S IDEAS
There a lot of ideas that I got from Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his writing and what he was writing. I feel that after Narváez and his bad leadership, it landed de Vaca in a place with some of the companions that survived along with him, in a place that would be new to them and they would learn a whole lot from it. I think that he didn’t realize at the time that he would come to learn so much from the Indians and grow a liking to them. I got that he was given a spiritual awakening form this experience that would change him for life. I reacted to what de Vaca had to say as a “Wow” because he actually lived and learned from the Indians and taught them things as well. I found him a friend because he didn’t want to take advantage of them but see their way of being and help them.
I responded to de Vaca’s ideas in many ways and the quote that I chose says a lot about him and that’s why I chose it. The argument that de Vaca was talking about, is the one that he had with Alcaraz. Alcaraz and the other countrymen did not want to be friends the Indians but only wanted to make them slaves and take them for all they had. This pissed off de Vaca’s because he was friends with them and found them as equals. I thought that this said something about de Vaca’s and the person that he was.He had grown a relationship with the Indians; it seemed like he cared. He even tried to tell them to leave Alcaraz and the Indians would not listen. I got from this that he wanted to help them and they were so trusting to him that they thought they would get the same treatment from Alcaraz.
The Internet quote says a lot about him and his ideas as well. The fact the he was well-known but many didn’t like him because he wanted rights for the Indians, showed that he was a man who believed that the Indians deserved their rights. This kind of idea shows a man who had grown with the Indians and did not want anyone taking advantage of them. I really liked that de Vaca learned and lived with the Indians because he came to a place with people who were different but kind to him and seemed to be very thankful for that.
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