Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas
278
Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas
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Overview
Unlike many Spanish conquistadores who brought to the Americas a wave of disease, destruction, and oppression, Cabeza de Vaca’s stated intention was to pursue a different kind of conquest—one that would be just and humane, true to Spanish religion and law, and one that safeguarded liberty and justice for the indigenous peoples of the New World.
Bringing to South America skills and experiences earned with native peoples in North America, however, Cabeza de Vaca both failed to understand the indigenous peoples in the south and alienated many Spanish settlers in the Rio de la Plata Province, whose economic interests he threatened. Eventually the Spanish colonists formed a conspiracy to remove him from power and return him to Spain in chains.
That Cabeza de Vaca was overthrown is not surprising. His ideas and policies opposed the self-interest of most of the first Spaniards who had come to America, although he inspired the support of many even after his humiliating return to Spain. In Conquistador in Spain, historian David Howard provides a fascinating account of the rise and fall of this colonial idealist.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780817391706 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Alabama Press |
| Publication date: | 12/30/1996 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 278 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
David A. Howard is Professor of History at Houghton College, Houghton, New York.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Seeing the Poorness of the Land
For eight years a bleak and perilous wilderness held Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca captive. Such hardship and misery would have a great effect on anyone. His long ordeal, "so savage and so remote from the service of God and all good reason," changed him profoundly. A typical conquistador who had come to the New World for riches, for power, and to make a name, he emerged from years of captivity with a new goal: to bring the Indians of America into the Spanish empire with justice and liberty.
This drastic change raised Cabeza de Vaca to a position of singular importance in American history. He became a champion and protector of the Indians, seeking a humane conquest which by kindness, justice, and good treatment would civilize (or Hispanize) and make Christians of them. The questions that came from that undertaking were also singularly important. What happened to Cabeza de Vaca in the wilderness of North America? What prompted him to defend the Indians? Was a humane conquest even possible?
* * *
Cabeza de Vaca first came to America in a company led by the conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez. A veteran of warfare in America, Narváez had fought Indians in the Greater Antilles and Spaniards (Hernán Cortés) in Mexico, where he lost an eye. On December 11, 1527, he got the capitulations (a contract with the crown) that he needed for a conquest of "Florida." Like so many others, he dreamed of another Mexico. To look after royal interests, the king of Spain, Charles I, sent along Cabeza de Vaca as royal treasurer and chief constable (alguacil mayor).
In June 1527 Governor Narváez sailed for America. His fleet of five ships carried some six hundred people, but more than 145 of them decided to stay at Santo Domingo. Later, at Cuba, sixty others were lost in a hurricane. When Narváez finally sailed to Florida in April 1528, he had only four hundred men and eighty horses. Such conquistadores were adventurers of varied backgrounds, some more desperate than others, and they often proved quite effective in battle. Discipline and the methods of warfare were more customary than formal, and the key to control over such a company was its leadership. On Good Friday Narváez's ships landed on Florida's west coast, although the exact site remains open to debate. The next day, at an Indian village deserted by its wary people, Narváez claimed the land in the name of Charles I.
Ten years later, Cabeza de Vaca wrote a report for the king about the experiences that followed. It was published in 1542 (at Zamora) as La relación (Relation), and a second edition appeared in 1555 (at Valladolid) under the title Naufragios (Shipwrecks). This classic story of conquest, written in part to win another royal office, tells of his many adventures and reveals his changing ideas about the native people of America. This book says little about the Indians in Florida — a few sentences about what he did and saw provide the only evidence of his ideas. Naturally, he wrote mostly about his own work and the problems of survival. The Indians at the town on the coast where he landed were hostile, a warning of troubles to come. The Spaniards, who had their own reasons to go onward, forced the Indians to act as guides and took their stores of corn.
Cabeza de Vaca's legal responsibilities did include the Indians. While the main duties were financial, he was instructed to "take care of and be diligent to look after anything that may tend to our royal service," including telling the king "how the natives are treated, our instructions observed, and other of the things respecting their liberties that we have commanded; especially the matters touching the service of our Lord and divine worship, the teachings of the Indians in the Holy Faith." As alguacil mayor, Cabeza de Vaca's duties included watching over the Spaniards to keep them from harming the Indians. Yet he appeared to be no more upset about how the Indians were treated than were his companions and showed no more regret about ignoring their "liberties."
The Spaniards had come to America for gold. When they saw that the Indians had small quantities of it (probably salvaged from wrecked Spanish ships), they asked where it was found. By good luck or wisdom, the Indians said that very far away was a province called Apalache, where there was much gold. Surely no answer was more likely to get rid of such an army of invaders. Narváez, taking a gamble, decided to go inland, while his ships carried supplies up the coast. Cabeza de Vaca strongly opposed taking such a risk; he wanted to wait until the Spaniards had a secure port and more supplies. Narváez had made up his mind, however, and he said that if Cabeza de Vaca was afraid to go inland on the entrada (armed expedition), he could take charge of the ships. That scorn, of course, bound Cabeza de Vaca by honor to go with the governor, however rash the plan. The thought of gold was also a strong lure, for his remarks show that he shared in its enchantment.
The expedition inland caused great suffering. Three hundred soldiers, forty on horseback, crossed the rough countryside with immense effort. After much arduous travel they met another group of about two hundred Indians, whose actions caused the intruders to seize five or six of them. Such strife was to mark the rest of that journey. Nearly starving, the Spaniards came at last to the town of Apalache. (The site of that town has been determined to be Ivitachuco, and the land attached to it covered some forty miles east to west and north to south.) Reaching their goal, where food and gold were expected, revived the men. To take the town, Narváez put fifty infantry and nine cavalry under Cabeza de Vaca, an experienced officer, who did not question attacking unsuspecting people. In Florida he was merely another conquistador, one of many willing to use force without question, a soldier following orders.
Apalache was not another Mexico. Narváez found only women and children there, for the men had fled. One can imagine the shock of finding that this town of forty small, thatched huts was the largest in the area. In two hours the Indian men came to ask for their families and peace. Narváez agreed but upset the Indians by holding a chief hostage. A day later they began trying to drive out the invaders, attacking suddenly and from ambush, but the Spaniards could not force a battle with foes who were so quick to retreat.
For almost a month the Spaniards stayed in the area. Three scouting trips showed that the nearby people were poor and the traveling was bad. They asked the hostage chief and the Indians who came with them from beyond Apalache about the people, the land, and its supplies. All of them agreed that Apalache was the largest town — farther away, the people became fewer and much poorer. It was a region of large lakes, dense forest, and great wilderness, but no people. To the south, however, the land had towns and food. Nine days' journey toward the sea was the town of Aute, they explained. There the Indians had maize, beans, squash, and fish.
The Spaniards were ready to quit. Cabeza de Vaca recalled their deep gloom. "Seeing the poorness of the land, the bad reports that [the Indians] gave us of the people and all the rest, and how the Indians made constant war upon us, wounding men and horses at the places where we went to get water, attacking from the lakes in so much safety that we could not harm them," the invaders decided to go to the sea.
These Indians excited little feeling in Cabeza de Vaca. Only their military qualities struck him. Writing about a furious attack, for example, he said that "all the Indians we saw from Florida are archers, and because they are naked and so tall, from a distance they seem gigantic. They are a people admirably well-formed, very slender, and with great strength and quickness." In fact, they wounded him in one of their assaults. In America Cabeza de Vaca was merely a spectator. The humanity of the Indians and their way of life did not interest him very much. He did not try to change or Christianize them, in spite of his royal orders. The Indians had value only as they were useful to the Spaniards. Taking their food or property and making them act as hostages or guides drew no blame. These steps were necessary for the Spaniards to survive, even though the Indians might thereby starve. According to historian José B. Fernández, Cabeza de Vaca left out of his book Narváez's atrocities in Florida because the failure to prevent them probably would make it hard to get another royal grant. It is just as likely that if Cabeza de Vaca saw such misdeeds, he did not yet care very much about what was happening to the Indians.
Back to the sea went the Spaniards. Nine days from Apalache they came to Aute, burnt and deserted already, but with much corn, squash, and beans left behind. After two days rest, Cabeza de Vaca took some men to the coast. His scouts found that it was very hard to travel along the shoreline, and there was no sign of the ships. Reporting to Narváez at Aute, he learned that Indians had attacked and that the men were becoming sick. Only one choice was left. As impossible as it must have seemed because they lacked skills, tools, and materials, they needed to get to the sea and make boats. An extremely hard, daylong journey brought them to the shore at a place that they named the Bay of Horses. The number of sick grew by the hour, and more than forty died of hunger and illness. The desperate survivors used whatever was at hand and put together five boats or barges. On September 22 they were able to cast off. Each of the unsound vessels carried about fifty men, heading along the coast toward New Spain.
For weeks the Spaniards sailed and drifted, often through storms. They fought off Indian attacks and survived with little food. Finally, came the coast of Texas, where they were shipwrecked on an island. The date, noted by Cabeza de Vaca, was November 6, 1528. A few of the men survived, fed and sheltered thanks to the pity of the Indians. Those who went back out to sea were never again seen; among them was Narváez, who abandoned the rest to their fate.
CHAPTER 2So Miserable an Existence
The shipwreck led to a great change in Cabeza de Vaca. He and the others knew that they would soon die without help, which had to come from the people who lived there — the Indians. For the first time since coming to North America, these Spaniards had a need to learn something about the humanity of the Indians. The island held two peoples, named the Capoques and the Han, who were part of a somewhat diverse Indian population, speaking different languages but labeled for convenience the Karankawa. Each group had about four hundred members. As nonsedentary Indians, they moved from the island to the mainland when seasonal food supplies required. By the twentieth century the Karankawa had become extinct.
For Cabeza de Vaca these Indians became the key to life. He and the other mariners slowly recovered from their hard landing. After they had eaten, rested, and explored the island, they tried to launch their boat, but an enormous wave immediately crashed over them. The battered craft tipped and sank, and three men drowned. Seeing the disaster, the Indians began crying aloud; their concern touched Cabeza de Vaca. "Truly, finding that these men, so crude and lacking reason like brutes, were grieving so much for us, increased for me and the rest of the company our anxiety and concern for our misfortune."
This hint of human sympathy helped him decide what to do. He begged the Indians to take the Spaniards to their camp. His men were terrified. They knew that earlier in Mexico the Aztecs had sacrificed Spanish captives before their idols. However, these Indians seemed so agreeable that by the next morning that worry faded for the warmed and fed survivors.
The Spaniards named the island Malhado, meaning evil fate or doom. By withholding food, the Indians eventually forced some of the unwilling Spaniards to practice medicine, "without examining us or demanding our licenses." The Spanish cures came about by "making the sign of the cross, blowing on them, reciting a Pater Noster and an Ave Maria, and praying the best that we could that God our Lord would give them health." An added plea was that God would inspire the Indians to treat them well. As God willed, said Cabeza de Vaca, their patients at once told the other Indians that they were healthy and sound. Such cures, reflecting both Spanish and Indian ideas about medical treatment, would be vital to his eventual escape. Ironically, half of the Indians soon died of a stomach sickness, which some of them guessed was of Spanish origin.
The six years that followed were harsh. The Spaniards traveled to and from the mainland to find food, often living as slaves or captives of different groups. Until his escape in 1534, Cabeza de Vaca stayed with several Indian peoples. The hunters and gatherers who lived away from the coast survived for part of the year mainly on prickly pear fruits or pecan nuts. As these foods grew in two widely separated areas and ripened at different times of the summer or fall, those Indians ranged over some five thousand square miles.
Most of the Spaniards soon died, and Cabeza de Vaca gave this part of his story only a few pages. He wrote with some relief about getting freedom to travel and to carry on trade as a merchant for the Charruco Indians, acting as a neutral stranger who could exchange goods between hostile peoples. Cabeza de Vaca stayed as aloof from the Indians as his way of life allowed. His book shows how far he kept himself from them emotionally during the years on Malhado Island and the mainland. Often he thought them to be peculiar. The end of one passage makes clear his view of how they lived: "They have other strange customs, but I have related the most important and notable." He often commented about Indians in a general way, so it is not always possible to link his remarks with specific peoples. The bonds that grew later, during the long walk to New Spain, were not yet evident. He still admired their war skills and valor, but from the time of the shipwreck until the escape began, his book portrays him as ready to attack Indian villages and loot Indian food. The difference, of course, was that now he had to work and beg for food. If a passing ship had taken him off the coast of Texas, he would have missed the experiences that made him one of the chief supporters and defenders of the Indians. After six years in the wilderness, he looked upon them just as he had in the beginning. They still had value only for his own survival. Not until he began the journey to New Spain did his view of the Indians change.
The time spent with the Indians on Malhado Island was not happy. The perils of starvation, overwork, illness, hard winters, and death fueled his desire to escape. He believed that the Spanish settlement at Pánuco, located to the south on the Pánuco River, was nearby. The bad treatment and forced labor finally caused him to flee to the mainland, where he was able to do the trading that so pleased him. With freedom to come and go as he wanted and not as a slave, he explored the countryside to look for a way out. This urge to escape was not shared by all the Spaniards. For several years he tried to get Lope de Oviedo to go with him. Oviedo finally agreed but then turned back when some Indians terrorized them. Three other men joined him: Andrés Dorantes of Béjar, his "Arabian" black slave, Estebanico of Azamor, and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado of Salamanca. If they had refused to flee, said Cabeza de Vaca, he was ready to go without them. His desire was at its peak, for he had recently eluded Indians who had tried to kill him three times. During 1533 and 1534 he and Dorantes were captured by a group of two hundred Mariames Indians and learned to speak their language. Estebanico and Castillo were held by the nearby Iguases Indians, and the four men escaped from these two groups in late September or early October 1534. The Spaniards planned to head south at summer's end, when the Mariames Indians went north to their winter living area.
Once they had passed the point of recapture, their treatment changed radically. People met them who were eager to help. After years of living with erratic Indian behavior — friendship and violence, respect and bondage, pity and cruelty — they were treated with awe and reverence. Cabeza de Vaca, in turn, began to learn sympathy and understanding for the Indians. He also came to see the hand of God leading him out of the wilderness. Several times since coming to Florida he had been aware of divine protection and aid, but only now was he assured that God would use these adventures for some purpose. Cabeza de Vaca's much happier relations with the Indians on the road to New Spain and his growing sense of Providence led him to the values that made him a friend and helper to the Indians.
(Continues…)
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