Essay On Cabeza De Vaca

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Cabeza De Vaca was 1 of 4 survivors of the expedition commanded by Panfilo Narvaez calamity filled journey. They set sail en route to Northern Mexico but they got off course due to a furious storm and ended up in modernday Tampa bay Florida instead. The decision to send 300 of their men to main land would prove disastrous as they would never see them and the men would never find their way back to the ships.after two months of difficult survival with no shelter and bound to a strange land the remaining men would arrive at Apalache bay where Cabeza ordered the men to build rafts, with Cabeza commanding one of the rafts they set off again.through the tempest and peril only four men were left. In the end they became enslaved by Indians and after …show more content…
“cabeza befriended their captors and was able to serve among the indians lands living within 50 miles of the gulf coast “ cabeza saw that using his friendly methods he would get the upperhand in getting more freedom as a “slave” another example of cabeza earning the indians trust was “cabeza learned four indian languages including charrucos and sign language.” this is key to gaining the people's trust because the spanish are able to articulate to the indians what it is that they want in turn the indians are much less hesitant versus not being able to understand at all.

. Cabeza de Vaca survived because he was resourceful, patient, and had gained the Indians trust. The story of Cabeza de Vaca is still important today because it remains the story of a rare European who was in awe by the ingenuity of the native americans that he came across. Cabeza had a great respect forIndians and their practices.This is a story that should lead us to see history in a new light and from different perspectives and if nothing else to give other people a chance at expressing their beliefs and understanding for the life around them that they so highly