We Asked for Nothing: The Remarkable Journey of Cabeza de Vaca

Before reading this book, I had never heard of Cabeza de Vaca. His story is one of the few about a European explorer who found the heart and soul of the people of the New World (basically Mexico) and he never betrayed them. De Vaca came to the New World in search of gold, even though King Charles V charged him with making certain the indigenous people were being treated properly. Various circumstances brought him & his shipmates to the point where they were near starvation and had to put the ship ashore. The area on which they landed was populated by the Karankawa Indians. The tribe's people treated them with great kindness. Through this experience (and others like it), de Vaca came to love and respect the people of the various tribes he encountered as his equals. He experienced the ultimate paradigm shift. He no longer thought as a European and Spaniard when dealing with the people of the New World. He regarded them not as savages beneath his rank, but as a fellow human beings. For that time period, this was an amazing change of heart and mind: "Like all people, some were good, some were evil, some were cruel, some were kind, but there was one thing of which Cabeza de Vaca was now certain: Indians were human beings, children of God, and not animals to be bought and sold." (p. 36) De Vaca and his men became know as healers and they became famous among the tribes inhabiting Mexico. Where ever they traveled they were asked to heal and the indigenous people attested to their abilities to do so. This exciting narrative will inspire children and adults to learn more about this European explorer who, although entirely human, broke the mold of his day.