Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
And the debate concerning rights and treatment of Indians
During the early period of Spanish colonization in the Americas, there was a heated debate about the rights and treatment of American Indians. Some tried to justify the mistreatment of Indians, whilst others fought against the cruel behaviour of Spaniards in the Americas against Indians. A more recent historiographical debate concerns the accuracy of the assumption that the Spanish systematically mistreated the indigenous population in the Americas. The so called ‘Black Legend’ tells us that the Spanish colonizers were extremely cruel towards Indians. The ‘White Legend’ on the other hand, could be seen as a revisionist narrative, which argues that the Black Legend is mostly anti-Spanish propaganda which exaggerates the Spanish mistreatment of Indians. This White Legend is famously defended by historian Lewis Hanke, who focused on the role of the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, also known as the “Protector of the Indians”. In this short contribution, I will focus on another famous Spaniard, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who’s position in the debate concerning the rights and treatment of Indians is often questioned.
Who is Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca?
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was born as the eldest of four children in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. The exact date of birth is unknown. Some have put his birth around 1500, others around 1490. At a young age, Cabeza de Vaca worked as a soldier in Italy and in Spain. In Spain, he helped emperor Charles V during a civil war in Castile in 1520. Seven years later, Cabeza de Vaca would join the Narváez expedition to Florida as royal treasurer and marshal. Together with around three hundred men, they tried to explore and colonize Florida. This expedition is named after the leader of this expedition: the Spanish conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez (c.1478-1528). Narváez had fought Indians in Mexico before he began the conquest of Florida in 1527.
The Naufragios
The Narváez expedition was not a successful one. They faced a shipwrecking, fights with Indians, hunger, diseases and drownings. From the three hundred men, only four people managed to survive, including Cabeza de Vaca. This epic journey was described by Cabeza de Vaca in his La Relación, published in Zamora in 1542. The second edition is called Naufragios (Shipwreck) and was published in Valladolid in 1555. In these works, Cabeza de Vaca delivered a detailed account of his encounters with several Indian tribes during his journey through the southeast of present-day United States and the north of Mexico. Cabeza de Vaca, together with three others, managed to survive the eight-year journey by living as Indians within Indian tribes. They were enslaved by Indians at first, but Cabeza de Vaca eventually became a trader and healer, which gained him some freedom. Moreover, as a healer he wielded power and influence over the Indians. However, the accuracy of Cabeza de Vaca’s almost supernatural healing powers have to be questioned.
After years of traveling, and with the help of the Indians, the four survivors reached fellow Christians in Mexico in 1536. This encounter is a remarkable scene in Cabeza de Vaca’s account of his journey. He writes about “altercations with the Christians”, because they wanted to make slaves of the Indians who helped the four reach the Christians. In this scene, Cabeza de Vaca pleads for a peaceful conversion into Christianity, adopting a role of a missionary. According to Cabeza de Vaca, the Indians should build churches and bring crosses instead of weapons whenever they encounter other Christians. Throughout the text, Cabeza de Vaca frequently appears to shift in roles and identity from conquistador to captive and to missionary.
The special relationships with the Indians make Cabeza de Vaca an interesting actor within the discourse on Spanish colonization in the Americas. What can this network, described in the Naufragios, tell us about Cabeza de Vaca’s view on the Spanish treatment of Indians? And to what extent are these descriptions credible? Moreover, what can the social network of Cabeza de Vaca tell us about his position in the debate concerning the rights and the Spanish treatment of Indians? It is known that Cabeza de Vaca was in contact with writers and conquistadores on both sides of this debate, but what can the nature of these relations tell us about his view? By using the network theory, based on secondary literature and the Naufragios, I hope to find answers on some of these questions.
After years of traveling, and with the help of the Indians, the four survivors reached fellow Christians in Mexico in 1536. This encounter is a remarkable scene in Cabeza de Vaca’s account of his journey. He writes about “altercations with the Christians”, because they wanted to make slaves of the Indians who helped the four reach the Christians. In this scene, Cabeza de Vaca pleads for a peaceful conversion into Christianity, adopting a role of a missionary. According to Cabeza de Vaca, the Indians should build churches and bring crosses instead of weapons whenever they encounter other Christians. Throughout the text, Cabeza de Vaca frequently appears to shift in roles and identity from conquistador to captive and to missionary.
The special relationships with the Indians make Cabeza de Vaca an interesting actor within the discourse on Spanish colonization in the Americas. What can this network, described in the Naufragios, tell us about Cabeza de Vaca’s view on the Spanish treatment of Indians? And to what extent are these descriptions credible? Moreover, what can the social network of Cabeza de Vaca tell us about his position in the debate concerning the rights and the Spanish treatment of Indians? It is known that Cabeza de Vaca was in contact with writers and conquistadores on both sides of this debate, but what can the nature of these relations tell us about his view? By using the network theory, based on secondary literature and the Naufragios, I hope to find answers on some of these questions.
Cabeza de Vaca’s relation with the Indians
There are several Indian groups described in the Naufragios. By examining the relationships and interactions between Cabeza de Vaca and the various Indian groups, one could discover something about Cabeza de Vaca's stance within the debate concerning Spanish treatment of Indians. The results of this analysis tells us that the relationship was particularly negative with the Apalachee tribe. This Indian group is mostly described as violent and savage, from which the Europeans had to ‘defend themselves’. Cabeza de Vaca also describes attacks on other Indian groups, however in a less negative tone. The relationship with other Indian groups seems to be more positive. Some are described as helpful and skilled people. The relationship with the Pimas and Opatas people is the most positive. At the end of the Naufragios, Cabeza de Vaca present himself as the one that pleads for peaceful conversion of the Pimas and Opatas. Here, he clearly opposes the aggressive stance of fellow Christians who wanted to enslave these Indians. Overall, this tells us that according to Cabeza de Vaca himself, he developed an emphatic view of the indigenous people, which ‘transformed’ him from a conquistador to a missionary who protects the Indians.
Cabeza de Vaca’s social network
Cabeza de Vaca was in contact with conquistadors that has been seen as ‘villains’ who mistreated the indigenous people, such as Nuño de Guzmán and Pánfilo de Narváez. However, the relationship with Narváez didn’t seem to be very positive. In the Naufragios, Cabeza de Vaca describes moments where he had altercations with Narváez and occasionally blamed him for making wrong decisions. Possibly the most interesting connection, although indirect, is that of Las Casas, mentioned in the beginning of this article. In 1550 and 1551, Las Casas defended the rights of Indians within the Valladolid debate, a moral and theological debate regarding the rights and treatment of Indians. Las Casas used the Cabeza de Vaca’s La Relación to demonstrate peaceful conversion of native inhabitants of the Americas. Las Casas himself also had a connection with Narváez. He served as chaplain to Narváez in his conquest of Cuba in 1514, where he witnessed a particularly cruel massacre of Indians. According to Las Casas himself, this event was the reason for him to protect Indians from this type of violence. A direct contact of Cabeza de Vaca, Las Casas and Narváez was historian Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés. Oviedo desribed Narváez quite positively, while Las Casas was rather negative about Oviedo. However, the exact nature of these connections have still to be researched.
Conclusions
Cabeza de Vaca did not appear to be as activist regarding the better treatment of Indians, as Las Casas. However, he definitely regarded himself as a protector of the Indians. This is mainly reflected in the Naufragios itself in which he describes rather positive relationships with the various Indian tribes he comes across during his journey. This is why Las Casas could use this work for his own arguments. However, it remains unclear whether Cabeza de Vaca sincerely and actively protected Indians and to what extent his peaceful accounts were used for political reasons. Nevertheless, both social network analysis give an interesting insight of Cabeza de Vaca’s own opinions regarding Spanish treatment of Indians and his most probable position within the debate about rights and treatment of the indigenous people in the Americas. For this, he could be a fairly good example of the White Legend, although it does not invalidate the Black Legend.
D.d.H.
Further reading
Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez; ed. Pupo-Walker, Enrique; trans. López-Morillas, Frances M. Castaways: The Narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993 (An English translation of the Naufragios).
Varnum, Robin. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: American Trailblazer. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
Silva, Alan J. “Conquest, Conversion, and the Hybrid Self in Cabeza de Vaca’s Relación.” Post Identity 2, no. 1 (1999): 123-146.
Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949.
Varnum, Robin. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: American Trailblazer. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
Silva, Alan J. “Conquest, Conversion, and the Hybrid Self in Cabeza de Vaca’s Relación.” Post Identity 2, no. 1 (1999): 123-146.
Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949.
Sources of figures
Banner: https://historysshadow.wordpress.com/tag/spanish-colonization-of-colombia/ (26-05-2017)
Figure 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvar_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez_Cabeza_de_Vaca#/media/File:Cabeza_de_Vaca_Portrait.jpg
Figure 2: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, ed. Enrique Pupo-Walker, trans. Frances M. López-Morillas, Castaways: The Narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), xvi.
Figure 3: http://www.floridahistory.com/vaca-3.html (26-05-2017)
Figure 4: Made by the creator of this article
Figure 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvar_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez_Cabeza_de_Vaca#/media/File:Cabeza_de_Vaca_Portrait.jpg
Figure 2: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, ed. Enrique Pupo-Walker, trans. Frances M. López-Morillas, Castaways: The Narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), xvi.
Figure 3: http://www.floridahistory.com/vaca-3.html (26-05-2017)
Figure 4: Made by the creator of this article