Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas

Cabeza de Vaca, the Conquistador who came to know Indians as people, died impoverished after being imprisoned for his attempts to treat Native Americans as humanely and justly as his time understood those notions. We know of Cabeza de Vaca from the Narrations of his sojourn among the Indians of Texas and Mexico (A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca : The Extraordinary Tale of a Shipwrecked Spaniard Who Walked Across America in the Sixteenth Century), Gary Snyder's complementary references to him, and a movie which popularizes his claimed healing powers. He is a personality of enduring interest. Seeing Indians by living with them in their world, he was able to blend some of his Conquistador goals of bringing civilization and Christianity to the heathen with the Christian idea that Indians deserved to be treated as Christians and exploited no more than peasants in Spain. This was a far cry from the rapacious greed of most other Conquistadors which focused on obtaining fabulous wealth, unbridled power and uncontrolled sexual dominance. Here we have a theme which repeats itself over and over again in the histories of imperial dominance. That the king, some legal authorities, and the Church in Spain wanted to develop their conquests consistent with contemporary values clashed with the fact that both Conquistadors and colonists found themselves masters of peoples to whom they could do what they wanted because there was no real authority other than their force of arms. When Cabeza de Vaca returned to the New World as governor of the Rio del Plata he was able to show that his treatment of natives worked in a limited way. He successfully made it hundreds of miles across Native territory without conflict. In curbing the excesses of the colonists he also roused their ire and they responded by imprisoning and returning him to Spain. Such limits were impossible to impose until most of the native were subdued. Spain could no more control its New World colonists than the English and later the Federalists could keep those who eventually became Jeffersonian democrats from crossing the Alleghenies and heading westward annihilating North American natives. Howard's book is a very interesting one. It cannot match the drama of Cabeza de Vaca's grand journey but it does put his life in greater perspective. If he had once been a healer, he was no longer one in Paraguay. That brings me to question how much of his healing episodes in his Narrations were a convenient way of dramatizing to a Spanish public and court the miracle of his survival. It might be more palatable than a description of what he really lived. It is odd that his being a healer is no longer mentioned. Certainly the Indians of the Rio de la Plata deserved it as much as those of Texas. Then there is gold and silver. The author points out that Cabeza de Vaca maintained that goal as crucial to his enterprise. So maybe he demurred on sex, used power when needed, bu

I had to read this book for my Latin American History course that I took with Dr. David A. Howard himself. I was a little nervous at first, because I knew I would have to write a book review on it for class, and I didn't want to have to write that I didn't like it. I loved the book! It is an excellent read both academically and for personal enjoyment. I will definitely keep it in my library to go back and enjoy in the future.

David A. Howard has written an excellent book for both academic purposes and casual reading. This insightful and provocative look at the life and times of Cabeza De Vaca should supplement any course that strives to thoroughly explore Latin American history. I highly recommend this text for not only people who are searching for historical truths but also for those interested in reading a genuinely captivating chronicle.