Summary of La Relación by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Background

• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish conquistador who survived a very disastrous expedition to America and became the first European to cross North America.
• He came from a family of conquistadors, and had been a soldier before going to America.
• Treasurer and second in command in the colonization of territories north and east of the Gulf of Mexico.
• By the time he sailed, Spaniards had conquered the Aztecs of Mexico and the Inca of Peru.
• Pánfilo de Narváez led this expedition, which had 5 ships, but two were lost in a hurricane.
• Two barges (rafts) washed up on Galveston Island, along with around 80 men, but only Cabeza de Vaca and 3 other men survived with the Karankawa Native Americans.
• After six years, he escaped and went back to Spain, where he was appointed governor of a South American colony but fired for his humane treatment of Natives.
• He was exiled to Africa for corruption, but eventually pardoned, ending his days as a judge in Spain.
• The excerpt was translated by Cyclone Covey.

Characters

1. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
• Narrator of La Relación
• Spanish conquistador
2. Pánfilo de Narváez
• Leader of the 5 ship expedition of which Cabeza de Vaca was part of
3. Lope de Oviedo
• Strongest man in the expedition
4. Inspector Solís
• Greeted the Indians with Cabeza de Vaca
• Drowned when the barge capsized as they tried to leave
5. Cabeza de Vaca's Host
• Karankawa Native who dissuaded his fellows from killing the Europeans when disease was spreading
6. Karankawa Natives
• Tribe that inhabited Galveston Island

Plot Summary
     During a cold winter, some Spanish explorers are making a journey to North America when they encounter a storm that takes some of their barges and people.  This is a narration by Cabeza de Vaca, a leader in the expedition.  On November 6, they arrive at Galveston Island, where they encountered some Karankawa natives.  They try to leave, but fail as a waved capsized their barges.  The inspector and two other men died, and the rest of them nearly died from the cold.  The Indians take them to their village, stopping them along the way at 4 fires, so they could get well.  That night, they have a celebration and the Europeans think they're being sacrificed, but it doesn't happen.  Soon, some more Europeans arrive, bringing sickness.  Some weeks pass and only half the Karankawas and 16 Europeans remain, as the illness spread.  The Indians wanted to kill the Europeans that were left, but Cabeza de Vaca's host (an Indian) dissuaded them.  Eventually, the Europeans became 'medicine-men', or healers, practicing Karankawa methods and praying for the ill.  The Indians treated them well.

Summary (by parts)
A Sinking and a Landing

• The expedition started in May, but this excerpt occurs during the winter, so it was cold.
• There were two barges left, as one had been sunk by the storm that was occurring.
• On those two barges, the men only had half a handful of raw corn to eat per day.
• The men started falling over and losing consciousness due to lack of nutrients and hunger.
• They may have had something similar to scurvy (lack of Vitamin C).
• Only the navigator and Cabeza de Vaca were standing on the barge, and the navigator thought he was going to die, but he survived.
• Before sunrise (near dawn), Cabeza de Vaca heard waves resounding, so he told the navigator they must be near land.  They wanted to wait until daylight to go to the land.
• As they neared the shore, a wave pushed them and dug their barge into the sand.
• They landed on Galveston Island on November 6, and as they found rainwater and cooked their corn some, men regained consciousness and movement (had 'sea legs').

What Befell Oviedo with the Indians

• Cabeza de Vaca told Lope de Oviedo, the strongest man in the expedition, to climb a tree and look around.
• Lope de Oviedo saw they were on an island with people and cattle.
• He knew there were people because cattle had trampled the land.  He said 'it must be a country of Christians' because they felt Indians were inferior and incapable of managing cattle.
• Cabeza de Vaca told Oviedo to head out, but not too far.  He took too long, so Cabeza de Vaca sent two more men to get him.
• Oviedo came back with a pot, a dog, and some mullets (fish).  He was also being followed by 3 natives with bows and arrows.
• The Indians weren't threatening.  They gestured them to come with them and sat on the shore, giving them space and showing peace.
• Soon, there were like 100 natives there, and the Spaniards could barely even stand up (the Indians could've killed them if they wanted to, but didn't).
• Inspector Solís and Cabeza de Vaca greeted the Indians, pledging friendships with gifts.
• The Spanish gave beads and bells, and the Indians greatly appreciated them.
• The Indians gave each Spaniard an arrow, and told them (by signs) they'd be back at sunrise with food.

The Indians' Hospitality Before and After a New Calamity

• The Indians brought fish and roots, as well as women and children who wanted to look at the Spaniards.
• They wanted to leave, but as they went far from shore, a wave caught them and killed some men.
• They dropped their oars on the first wave, and the second capsized (flipped) their barge.
• The Inspector and 2 more men drowned and died.
• The rest of the men floated back to the shore naked and nearly drowned.
• The cold breeze nearly killed them, but they prayed and started a fire.
• When the Indians came back and saw the dead, they lamented for half an hour with the Spaniards (it made them sadder too).
• The Spanish thought about asking the Indians to take them home, as some said they would sacrifice them if they did so (from past experience in other travels), but they decided if they didn't ask they'd die anyway.
• They said yes, but told them to wait for a while.
• The Indians carried the Spanish and prepared four fires between the shore and their village, stopping them at each one so they could regain their strengths.
• When they got to the village, the Indians had prepared a hut for the Spanish with many fires inside.
• The Indians had a dance celebration all night, but the Spanish weren't happy, they were scared because they thought they'd be sacrificed.
• The next morning the Indians brought them food again, so they stopped being afraid.
• Some European men from the other barges landed, bringing the number of Europeans in the island to 90, but this brought disease and death.
• After some weeks, all but 16 of the Europeans died of disease.  Half of the Karankawas were dead too.
• Some Karankawas wanted to kill the remaining Europeans, but Cabeza de Vaca's Indian host dissuaded them from doing so.

How We Became Medicine-Men

• The natives wanted the Europeans to become healers, and withheld food from them unless they did this (so they were manipulated and forced to do so, even though Cabeza de Vaca emphasizes how they weren't educated in medicine).
• The Karankawas healed by blowing on the sick and laying their hands on them, casting out the infirmity.
• They also thought objects of nature, like rocks and pebbles, found in fields were capable of taking away pain and healing.
• For the natives, the Europeans embodied power over nature (maybe because they'd crossed the ocean and done things they hadn't thought of), but the Europeans took no credit for their success/failure, the only did their job for the food.
• Indians gave medicine-men all they had, and some of their families' possessions too.
• When an Indian was sick, the medicine-man would make incisions (cuts) over the pain, suck the wound, and cauterize it (burn it to 'seal' it).
• Cabeza de Vaca said this method was highly esteemed by Indians, and that it'd worked for him too.
• The Europeans' methods for healing were blessing the sick, breathing on them, and praying the Pater noster and Ave María for their recovery.
• [At this time, not even the Spanish knew too well how illnesses were caused.]
• The Indians treated the Spanish kindly, feeding them before themselves, and have them gifts (like skins).

The Indians swallowed pebbles, or "passed them by the stomach."

This is based on the excerpt presented on the Holt, Rinehart and Winston American Literature book of La Relación by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.