Cabeza De Vaca Analysis

Words: 680
Pages: 3

Making it Through the New World

Surviving amongst natives in a land unfamiliar to you is hard enough in any circumstances, and surviving amongst natives who distrust and enslave you is even harder. Despite that, Cabeza de Vaca managed to make it through all of his difficulties and get back home in the end, then writing a book to document his journey. After shipwrecking in modern day Tampa Bay, Florida with very little food and water, he somehow made it to land again only to be captured and enslaved by Native Americans. He survived this because of his excellent wilderness skills, his success as a healer, and his respect for Native Americans. Cabeza de Vaca survived because of his excellent wilderness skills. In Document B, it states that
…show more content…
In Document A, the map shows how Cabeza was able to befriend the Natives enough to travel with him and help him. In Document B, it states that he learned four Indian languages, which ultimately helped him to gain respect from the Native Americans in turn. Document B also states how Cabeza befriended his captors and was then allowed to serve as a trader amongst them.In Document C, an except from his narritive and the painting by Thomas Lea depicts Cabeza performing surgery on a Native american, further giving him their trust. In Document D, Cabeza tells how the Indians disliked the Christians but like Cabeza and his men, despite them coming from the same land. “They wanted to enslave the Indians we brought with us… The Christians (told the Indians) that we had been lost for a long time, and that we were people of ill fortune and no worth, and that hey were the lords of the land whom the Indians were to Serve and obey…”(Doc D) This shows how despite everything the Spaniards told them, they still distrusted them and trusted Cabeza. In conclusion, Cabeza survived the new world because of his excellent survival skills, his success as a healer, and his respect for Native Americans. Despite the thirst, hunger, distrust, and cold, he was able to make it through and eventually get back home. If he hadn’t had these, he wouldn’t have survived, whether the Native Americans killed him or he was exterminated by the natural