A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
by Andrés Reséndez, Perseus publishing, 2007, 336 pages
Early in the sixteenth century, an expedition of Spanish explorers wrecked their ship off the coast of Florida. All of the men died except for three Spaniards and an African slave, who ended up walking all the way to the Pacific coast. It took them ten years. Along the way they nearly died dozens of times, were enslaved by Indians for six years, and survived by eating bugs, salamanders, dirt, and poop. The most amazing thing about their incredible journey is that somewhere along the way, after “going native”, they began performing “healing miracles” on the American Indians they met, and became fantastic celebrities with an entourage of several thousand natives who followed them everywhere.
The book is incredible as a survival story, but it also demonstrates a completely different type of contact between Europeans and Indians, one that could have resulted in a radically different history. When the four explorers finally met Christian conquistadors on the Pacific coast, they were naked, barefoot, and bearded; and they had thousands of Native American friends traveling with them. They were opposed to the practices of enslavement and cruelty that were already Spanish policy in the region, and believed in a peaceful occupation and co-existence with the native inhabitants. It didn’t really work out, but one has to wonder what life might have been like without NAFTA.
Here’s a trailer for the Mexican movie that was made about Cabeza de Vaca in 1990.
cool