Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of an exploratory crew led by Panfilo Narvaez in the early 16th Century. De Vaca wandered throughout the southern regions of America for years before he left North America. His surviving journals are the seminal (this means most important or the authoritative) documents about the goals, findings and misconceptions of the early Spanish conquistadors. What I find most interesting about such documents is what attracted future explorers was often misinformation about the continent (like lots of gold, oceans in the middle of North America etc.). People in Spain would read these records and rush over here, only to find they had been misled.
For this week's blog you are going to read a brief synopsis of De Vaca's travels on this website. Then you will visit this website and choose ONE of the four journals written by De Vaca about his time spent roaming through America trying to survive. In your the comments section this week, write about something that surprised you or that you thought was particularly interesting about De Vaca's experience.
The thing that surprised me was that when they hit land near Tampa bay three hundred men got off the ship and went on to land. Only 4 men came back to the ship. I thought this was very weird how so many people died and we don’t really ever hear of things like this anymore. I mean 296 people died that is a lot of people. Normally when we here of this many deaths at one time I think of something like a bomb going off. Not only did I think it was weird that that many people died I was surprised that that happened.
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There are two things that surprised me about Cabeza’s expirience. One was his observation about the native tribes stating that the natives killed female infants because of fighting between native groups, plus the fact that marriage was outlawed in the tribal groups. Daughters could only marry a person from an enemy tribe and their sons would grow up to be enemies of the mother’s tribe. So, they would kill the female children so they would have no future enemy warriors. Problem: there would be no women to have sons to contribute to their tribe. Two is how much he kept mentioning prickly pears in the third journal. I was curious why he kept bringing them up, so I looked up “prickly pears,” and found that they were cactus buds from the Opuntia cactus, which is a variety widely spread though the Americas. Anyways, the natives offered him some (which was an answer to his prayer because he was starving) and found that they were satisfying. The natives offered him lots of prickly pears as he was leaving like a prating gift. It made me really want to try a prickly pear!
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The funny thing that I saw in the first website that one night while they were sleeping their boat started drifting away with all their clothes. So that means 600 people were left their necked. Could you imagine that! Left on a island with no clothes.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I thought was interesting was that a lot of the men didn't get water. Some of the men didn't get water for five days, which is insane. I thought you would die. Some of the men decided to drink the water that did not work out for them.
The websites that we went to were very long but good.
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There are two things that I found interesting about his experience. First, his encounter with the native tribe, the Apalachee, while the warriors were away and captured their women and children. Then the warriors returned and asked for the release of their families which the Spanish granted. Still, the Spanish took the Apalachee chief hostage. Because of this, the warriors came back the fight them. The Apalachee had a serious advantage knowing the land so well, also, the only thing the Spanish had over them was that the Spanish calvary was effective and terrified the natives. The problem with that was that it was only effective in open ground. The place the battle was had many trees and lakes. Second, when he and his few companions were outnumbered by Native Americans with bows and arrows after more Native Americans joined the original three armed natives. Cabeza and his companions were cold and starving. They could barely stand on their feet so they had no chance, even if they were evenly numbered. Then, by giving them beads and bells, they established a friendship with the tribe. Yay! After spending a night in their village, Cabeza and his companions were given more food and supplies and set off on the rest of their journey. (212)
ReplyDeletei thought that it was interesting that the clothes boat or whatever that started drifting away, they couldn't get to. if you are left on an island and there plants and things of that nature you can make clothes. also, while I looked at this, I was wondering why people, men at this particular moment, didn't get water. if you are going to be adventuring, you need hydration. the more you hydrate the better off you are. if you are going to be without water for several days, use a survival skill that might help. drink your urine. it will at least help you stay alive. if that doesn't work out, find some coconut milk. (103)
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I thought was interesting was how many people died or went missing on these travels. They started out with 600 people when they first left, but the number dropped to 400 after many men went missing after exploring or got lost in a hurricane. For example, in 1528, about 300 men went exploring and only 4 came back! This is a crazy amount of people going missing! This almost never happens in today's world. These men were put right in harms way. We should appreciate their bravery and commitment for finding new land and groundbreaking the exploration age! Another thing I found interesting, was that when the crew 1st started exploring in Tampa, there was no one in sight for 15 days, but after taking 1 day to cross a river, the crew spotted about 200 Indians waiting to greet them. They then supplied them with a bountiful supply of corn. They felt so blessed that God had kept them safe all that time, and for letting them find the Indians to welcome them and give them food. Again, these men were VERY brave to have walked for 15 days in somewhere they had never been before! Today, we could drive or fly to get somewhere fast, but they had to sail and walk. We are very blessed to have the things we do today. Overall, these men were very brave, and made some very great discoveries. (241)
ReplyDeleteI think one thing that was interesting was that when they first got to Florida, it mentions that the natives were friendly. Then it says that shortly after they had arrived, they started being mean. It would make since that you would want someone off of the land that you found. The natives may have been worried that the "new people" might take over their land. It made me wonder, what did they do that made the natives start being rude, or mean. I thought maybe that the natives thought that they were a threat to them. Or maybe they did something rude or mean to the natives to make then start being mean themselves. I do not really know for sure, but it definitely made me wonder what went on between the two people groups to make them not like eachother.(144)
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I found very interesting was that the natives tricked the Spanish several times. One of the things the natives did was promise the Spanish that they would get them fresh water. Two of the Spanish men went with two of the natives. Two other Spanish men stayed at the native site. When the natives finally returned there was no water and the Spanish men were missing. The natives again promised the other two Spanish men that they would get them fresh water if the men went along with them. The two men were suspicious of the natives and did not go along with them.
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CABBEZA DE VACA’S TRAVELS
ReplyDeleteHE WAS ONE OF FOUR SURVIVORS ON A EXPEDITION TO FLORIDA COMMANDED BY PANFILO NARVAEX. HE USED THE NAME WHICH MEANS “COWS HEAD” AS HIS NAME. THIS WAS USED BY HIS ANCESTOR THAT GUIDED THE CHRISTIAN KING OF NARARRE AND HIS ARMY.
THERE WERE THREE OTHER SURVIVORS OF THE EXPEDITION.
CABEZA DE VACA WAS APPOINTED TREASURER AND HIGH SHERIFF OF THE EXPEDITION BY THE KING OF SPAIN.
THEY SET SAIL IN 1527 FROM SPAIN IN THEIR SEARCHES.
THERE WERE SEVERAL SETBACKS IN THE EXPEDITION INCLUDING BEING LOST AND ATTACKS FROM INDIANS.
PERSISTANCE PAID OFF AND THEY FINALLY COMPLETED THEIR MISSION. HE GAINED FAVOR WITH THE KING.
JAKE EUBANKS
The first thing that surprised me was that a ton of men deserted the ship to settle on the island. I was also surprised that when Cabeza de Vaca released the women and boys from Apalachen, he took their chief. Another thing that surprised me was that the Spanish soldiers gave up on looking for gold and were now only focusing on trying to find food to survive. I did not know if was possible to go five total days without drinking any water and not to die. The thing I am probably most shocked about is how bad thing expedition went for those Spanish.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that stuck out to me was that he could go so long without eating! And when he did eat it wasn't much. If you know me at all, you know that i like food so i think that's why this jumped out at me. He would sometimes go five or more days without eating or drinking anything! And when he finally got his hands on some food, it was oysters for three months straight and then blackberries for a month. And there is no way that i could live for three months on nothing but prickly pear cactus. I don't even know what it is! (but it sounds discusting) So my point is that this guy must have been nothing like me (aka addicted to Taco Bell). (130)
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I thought was very interesting was how many Indian tribes he came across and how the Indians acted differently. A lot of the tribes would just kill, enslave, or torture the Europeans. Some took good care of them and fed them. If I was Cabeza de Vaca, I wouldn’t have trusted the Indians after seeing what they had done to his companions. Some if the Indians acted like he was a god or at least a celebrity. After he revived that guy, he was amazing in the Indian’s eyes. They even gave him gifts. That was very interesting to me. (104)
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that surprised me was that his name meant head of a cow. He set out from Spain in June of 1527 with five ships, but arrived with three. They then left west on the coast of Mexico with three hundred men and only four actually survived. The natives were kind to the Spanish at first, but then they started attacking them. Caeza de Vaca and his other surviving companions were made a slave by the natives. Vaca and his friends were made very important by the natives after that because they could speak different languages. Vaca and his friends planned an escape route back to New Spain. They then took the route and made it back to New Spain.
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I thought the part about the Suwannee River was interesting. So the explorers came to a river and wanted to cross it. The river was very deep and had a bad current. The explorers decided to build a canoe out of rafts. To get across the river with the native’s help would take a whole day. One man named Juan Velazquez was impatient and decided to go ahead and ride on his horse through the river. Once he got in, the current swept him and his horse down the river. Dulchanchellin, the native chief, found the horse and told the people that they would find him further down the river. Then they found the man. The death of the guy caused them heartache. But the horse’s death resulted in dinner.
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I was surprised by several things. First, I was surprised that only four of the six hundred men survived when Pánfilo Narvaez took a group of people to settle the area between Florida and Rio de las Palmas in eastern Mexico. However, more than one hundred and forty men left when they stopped at an island, Santa Domingo, to live there.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that surprised me was that some Natives still provided food for the Europeans even after they started taking their land. The other Natives were hostile, though, and ambushed them to get rid of them faster than just letting them pass through.
The fact that Native Americans learned to shoot where the Europeans armor connected was really surprising because in a lot of history books, they are depicted as uncivilized, so it is implied that they were not as smart as Europeans.
Natives lived on very simple, plain meals. This was surprising to me because I usually eat a sandwich, chips, and fruit for lunch, and occasionally something extra. For example, they lived on oysters for three months, blackberries for one month, and prickly pears for three months!
When there are disagreements in a village, the people disagreeing will beat each other until they are worn out. They do not stop before then, though sometimes women would try to stop them. Then they would go out into a field with only their wife until their anger died down. Later they would go back to the village and everyone would act normal, like nothing ever happened. They got over things quickly, which people now aren’t as violent or forgiving after an argument.
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When he got to Florida he didn’t just sail in and have an easy entry. He had to go through three storms and luckily got to Florida! He first encountered a storm and it didn’t do much to him and his crew and barely left a mark. But the second storm he faced was massive and lasted three whole days before stopping! During this storm, he and his crew nearly died because of the rough water and weather but they got through. In the third storm, they just rode the wind and on the seventh day of April they reached land in Florida thus ending their wild journey.(108 words)
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how they started with 600 people and in the end, there were only 4 left. The numbers just kept shrinking. 2 out of 5 ships get lost in a hurricane. That’s 400 hundred people left. Then 300 hundred left the ships in Florida, and only 4 of them survived. That was because all of them were either killed or died of starvation or disease. Some of them died because they were eaten by their own people who were starving (ew). These people went days without food or water. When they did get food, it was maybe what we would call a snack. If we could see what they looked like, we would be able to see their bones no doubt about it. What your probably wondering is, why didn’t they go and get food? Well the thing is, they were slaves to the natives. They couldn’t just leave if they wanted to. They escaped from some of the tribes that enslaved them, and were helped out by other friendlier tribes. They actually could repay the friendlier tribes that helped them by healing them of sicknesses. They were famous to those people. De Vaca wanted to do everything he could to help those people and spread Christianity. When he finally left, he wanted to turn right around and go back to help those people find Christ. That’s something right there. (234)
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