Cabaza Del Vaca essays

Cabaza Del Vaca essays Cabeza de Vaca learned to communicate with the Spaniards and also learned to believe in some of their Christian values, including faith healing. The Spaniards learned to live within the culture of the indigenous people, learning to eat those things that were eaten by the local Indians, practice witchcraft, healing, and other rituals. Similar to the indigenous people, Cabeza de Vaca and his followers adapted the style of dress worn by those with whom they were enslaved and later befriended. Cabeza de Vaca no longer sought to find the wealth of the new land but became sympathetic to the Indians, and wanted them to remain free. Cabeza de Vaca did not want the Indians to be captured by other Spanish soldiers. In my opinion, the reason that the Spaniards said, "we must tell lies" was two fold. When they inspected the dying man who was shot with a Spanish musket ball in the last village that was pillaged, looted, and then burned by the Spanish soldiers, Cabeza de Vaca and the others were aware that the Spaniards would not be far away. In an effort to prevent many of the indigenous people being captured and enslaved, Cabeza de Vaca and the others knew the only way the Indian followers would go in a different direction was to pretend that he was cursed with death everywhere that he went. Because the Indians were very superstitious, Cabeza de Vaca knew that he could use this as an excuse to leave the nomadic group he was traveling with without raising much suspicion among the Indians. The Indians believing that Cabeza de Vaca was cursed continued their travels without him. The other men in his exploration party later met up with him later. The second reason that Cabeza de Vaca and his e xpedition followers determined that they must lie was that if they professed to the practices of the rituals of healing and raising people from the dead as prescribed by the Indians through witchcraft or medicine man healing, the Spaniards knew the...