Chapter 8 of A Land So Strange exemplifies the changing roles that are taken by the four remaining survivors of the Florida expedition. Primarily, they are renown within several Indian communities as healers and for this reason, Andrés Reséndez maintains that “Four naked and unarmed outsiders were led by hundreds, even thousands, of Indians. They were fed and protected and passed off from one indigenous group to the next, as if they were prized possessions moving along an ancient trading route across the continent” (188). Medicine men is exactly what these men were deemed to be at this point in their journey. They sharpened their skills and were performing much more complicated procedures. A ritual soon enveloped and the four castaways would travel from community to community healing natives and receiving food, shelter, and elaborate gifts in return. This quote portrays the invaluable nature of the healers by the Indian communties and objectifies their presence. Their reputation becomes determined by others based off of their doings and a huge sense of responsibility overtakes them with this job. The above quote also implies the inescapable life that they had to live in before continuing the exploration that they had set out to do. Along the same lines, it is important for understanding the different lifestyles the castaways had to adapt to and the difficulties that the natives had imposed on them and their lives.

In Andrés Reséndez’s book A Land So Strange he follows the journey of Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estebancio. These four men were a part of a colonization group but through a series of unfortunate events they all died (except for these four) and ended up traveling from Florida to Mexico. They became slaves but eventually ended up becoming “medicine men.”

As medicine men they were treated very kindly and were greatly desired, but the medicine men became a part of a peculiar custom. When the medicine men traveled from village to village, “those who had accompanied the medicine men would pillage the new hosts, entering their huts and plundering whatever possessions or food they could carry back to their own encampment. In return, they left the medicine men,” (191). This left their new hosts with very little, because after this ritual took place, they then would offer the medicine everything they had as gifts. The medicine had their pick of food, clothing, and other items. The villages were fine with this ritual however, because they then would walk the medicine men to the next village and become the pillagers.

This act of taking the new village’s possessions but leaving the medicine men implies that the medicine men were almost seen as possessions themselves. It can be compared to giving someone a diamond but taking their food, pots, pans, and furniture because then, and only then, is it a fair trade. The medicine men were considered the best possession someone could have. Reséndez’s argument is that the medicine men were not considered men, but merely tools that could heal.

In the two chapters that we read for today, Reséndez describes the castaways’ time enslaved by the natives. Throughout these two chapters we learn a lot about Native American society and culture, but also specifically their economy.

I agree that independent and unaffiliated merchants, such as Cabeza de Vaca, were important figures in Native American society, a point that needs emphasizing because many people still think of Native American trade as being between two groups or tribes without a middle man. At the beginning of the Spaniards’ relationship with the natives, they were treated well, but slowly became slaves. (143) However, the native cultures that the Spaniards interacted with were not slaving societies. They didn’t systematically take slaves as the Europeans did but rather “tolerated like stray dogs and permitted to stay as long as they made themselves useful.” (146) Once Cabeza de Vaca left the band on Malhado, he joined the Charrucos, a band at war with several other groups around them. This left them unable to trade with hostile groups, which allowed Cabeza de Vaca to become an independent merchant, a middle man for them. He writes “‘And this occupation served me well because practicing it, I had the freedom to go wherever I wanted, and I was not constrained in any way nor enslaved,” showing how a former slave could become a merchant in the New World and a valued one at that. He was what allowed warring tribes to trade with each other, shifting what people usually think of when they think of native economies. Another way the castaways obtained goods was through practicing their healing, which they thought came from God. They became very famous through the land and natives would beg for their help. They claimed to have never failed at healing someone, and in exchange, the natives would give them bountiful gifts, thus further cementing the respect and power individuals could have inside of a community they didn’t belong to.

I agree with Reséndez’s arguments about culture and hospitality because each group of natives treated the outsiders differently, based on the circumstances. The outsiders became enslaved by the natives on the island of Malhado, because from the perspective of the natives, the outsiders were useless (they couldn’t hunt or do any of the ‘manly’ jobs). However, as the outsiders made their way south towards Pánuco, they began to develop reputations as healers, and thus each group of natives that they encountered began treating them with great respect. Reséndez did a good job of arguing that sometimes the natives treated them poorly, and other times with great respect. I agree with Reséndez, but I also want to add more details to the explanations as to why each group treated them different.

In terms of hospitality, most groups of natives seemed to be relatively hospitable to the outsiders; the natives often provided them with food, drink, and other resources. Certain groups were not hospitable at all. The Camones killed all the Europeans they saw on sight. Several groups threw rocks, fired arrows, and otherwise harassed and attacked the Europeans. I believe the lack of hospitality from these groups can be attributed to a fear of the unknown. Alternatively, once the last four outsiders became known as healers, the natives went out of their way to be hospitable to them. The four were brought food and drink, as well as the ill of that particular group. It was also said that many native women were attracted to the four. Thus, the hospitality of the natives varied greatly on which group of natives the outsiders encountered and the circumstances in which they encountered them.

Thus, Reséndez’s theory of native hospitality is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of creolization. Reséndez argued that the reaction and hospitality of the natives towards the outsiders varied greatly, and this gives us an inside look into the clash of these different peoples. Sometimes, when the natives first saw the outsiders, they were unkind, and other times they were friendly. It shows that when two different cultures collide, there is no telling what may happen. The results could be positive or negative.

In the novel, “A Land So Strange,” the topic of family and marriage is vaguely mentioned. When the theme does come up though, it shed lights on what family and marriage was like not only for the Spaniards but for Native Americans as well. The author Andres Resendez offers a helpful translation of Cabeza de Vaca’s accounts with different marriages and families in his culture as well as the new world’s.

On page 74, the text states, “Vazquez de Ayllon…had one or more illegitimate children and quite possibly kept a neighbor’s wife in his house as a concubine.” Vasquez de Ayllon was another conquistador during this time period. It’s clear to see that Ayllon did not respect his wife or their marriage and used women for his sexual pleasure. This example portrays a Spaniards relationship and marital life in Spain during the sixteenth century. Although this may not have been what every relationship was like in Spain it can only be assumed due to Vazquez’s high status and power that most men in these positions also followed this lifestyle.

In contrast, some marriage’s such as Navares’s and his wife’s may have actually been filled with love and care. When Navarez goes missing, his wife sends a whole search party (who actually betray and lie to her) for him and would quite possibly have searched for him herself if she were allowed to. This inspiring woman goes through many measures to try and find her husband but to no prevail. Navaraz’s wife is an example of a loving marriage in which a wife truly cared for her husband.

Marriage and Family is not only discussed in the old world, but in the new world as well. Page 162 of a Land So Strange shows Cabeza’s account of the Native men’s view on family and specifically women. “The Mariames’ (an Indian tribe)  disdain for women extended even to their own baby girls, who were often left outside and allowed to be eaten by dogs. The Mariames engaged in female infanticide to deny potential wives to the surrounding (enemy) groups.” This describes a dark custom made by an Indian tribe in which babies (specifically girls) are killed or left to die to ensure that they will not marry another man from an enemies tribe. This depiction is very different from the Old World’s treatment of women and children versus the New World’s.

Since the theme of Family and Marriage is hardly brought up throughout the novel it seems as if it is an afterthought and the focus lies solely on the men. This clearly pushes aside women, family, and marriage, to a minor issue in the men’s lives and journey. Although it is not explicitly states by Resendez, it can be inferred through many examples that women were taken advantage of in both societies.

In A Land So Strange, written by Andrés Reséndez, the topic of family and marriage is not one that is highly elaborated on. In fact, the topic of women, children and family lifestyles is not mentioned until Chapter three and is not discussed in detail until after that. I think Reséndez’s lack of discussion about and involvement of women and the family unit says a lot about how family and marriage were thought about during the time period and specifically on the expedition. As the book and expedition progress, the idea and theme of family and marriage feels almost as an after thought, as if the concept is placed on the back burner while the highlights of the men’s expedition are in the spotlight. Though women and families are not shown as being the most significant aspects in the novel, each of the few4 times that the theme was brought up, it was depicted differently. The first mention of a woman was the “neighbor’s wife in [Vázquez de Ayllón’s] house as a concubine” (74). This implies that women were objects to be kept for sexual pleasures, an idea that was popular through out the time period. The second mention of women portrays them as being fickle at the heart and not truly valuing the ideals of marriage that we hold ourselves to today. Reséndez shows that the wives could not show commitment to their husbands as they explored the lands of the New World; instead the wives of the men opted to “give up on their land-bound husbands and even urged [themselves] to seek protection immediately among the crew members, who would reman on the ships with them” (89). These are ideals that we do not stand by today; in today’s society, we practice long marriage and sticking with the same partner through sickness and health. Reséndez’s depiction of the Mariame families is much different than the European family depiction. These households treat women and mothers like slaves, and daughters as burdens that should be sacrificed for the well being the family (162).

Today in most texts, Native Americans during colonial times are often either described as savages or innocent defenseless creatures who get slaughtered by the evil colonizers. In “A Land so Strange”, Résendez seems to argue that neither of these binaries accurately represents the native peoples through his analyses of the topic of hospitality of the native tribes. At first, De Vaca and his companions have very little contact with the natives. Sometimes the contact is positive and the natives exhibit lots of respect for the Spaniards, showing them nothing but hospitality. During other encounters the natives show no hospitality and openly attack the Spaniards. Later on in the novel, De Vaca joins a few different native tribes that exhibit varying levels of hospitality. It was also interesting that arguably the most hospitable tribe quickly became the least hospitable tribe. Through Résendez’s narration, the reader learns the motives behind the Native’s actions. Often the hospitable tribes had never seen white men before and had plenty to share while often the violent tribes had less to share or had had some form of contact with white men in the past. This narration shows the reader that “the natives” neither exhibited lots of hospitality toward the Spaniards nor none at all because you can’t speak about “the natives” as a cohesive group, it is different for different tribes.

While it is not directly stated, Résendez summarizes multiple encounters with native peoples that give the Spaniards a closer look at native cultures and compares those cultures to the Spaniards cultures. Through this comparison of cultures we learn that while the native cultures were very different from the Spanish culture, some similarities existed. The most important example of a similarity between the native culture and the Spanish culture is slavery. Social hierarchies existed in native cultures and those hierarchies varied from clan to clan but no matter what culture you look at, slaves were at the bottom of the social pyramid.

Though I concede that native cultures had their faults and that some native clans were very aggressive towards the Spaniards, I still insist that the fault always lay with Spaniards. The Spaniards came into a new land that they knew nothing about where other people had been living for thousands of years, declared that the land was theirs and that all of the native inhabitants were savages and lesser beings. I think that to an extent Résendez acknowledged this, but his descriptions of aggression of native tribes almost seemed to justify the actions of the colonizers which I do not condone.

A Land So Strange is a novel about the arduous journey that a band of Spanish colonists undergo in an effort to explore Florida and other parts of the New World. However, it cannot so simply be defined as a journey. Andrés Reséndez proves that it is a expedition filled with continuous misfortune, disastrous hardship, and harsh conditions. Initiated by Naraváez, the men pass through several foreign areas with different goals manifesting as they adventure. First and foremost, they do their best to survive through many environmental settings, such as hurricanes, powerful currents, swampy grounds, and frigid winters. Acquiring food and drink in an effort to resist starvation and dehydration are two other important goals for the debilitated men. Additionally, the natives serve to be a huge hindrance for the Spanish colonists as they try to locate their desired landmarks which are much farther than the colonists assume. However, the men have unwavering determination to both survive and colonize.

As it can be seen, environment plays a huge role in the narrative and could almost be described as a character in itself. Reséndez’s illustrative portrayal of the harsh conditions the colonists face is extremely useful because it sheds light on the disease-ridden and fatiguing circumstances the colonists undergo. I do not gain a sense of any exaggeration from Reséndez when describing the awful conditions and the causes for why the men die off. It paints a perfect picture of an imperfect situation where a constant struggle for survival is an inescapable reality. Description of the severe environmental conditions allows the reader to gain a sense of understanding of the explorers’ emotions, morale, and state of health. Further, the brutal conditions are very significant throughout the text because it shows the mens’ strength in spirit. As they are Christian, Cabeza de Vaca explains that it must be God who is allowing them to survive through such tropical storms and cold temperatures. In this case, the environment almost acts as both a deterrent that leads the colonists to failure and a motivating factor that enables the men to persist.

In the book “a land so strange”, the writer Reséndez recounts the story of the last and only four survivors meeting with the native Americans and being enslaved by those natives after they are found out to be useless in certain ways. As soon as those who took the expedition hit by the hurricane and being hurled onto the beach, the native Indian found them and treated them with effort and even gave whatever they need. Despite some of the ventures being skeptical about the kindness of the Indian, the majority people followed. Unfortunately, they were found to be useless to the Indians. The reason that the Indian acted kindly to them, in my opinion, is because of fact that they thought, with the armory of those explorers and the people, the natives could take advantage of them and eventually survive some harsh winter situations. Several years later, after being slaved for a great deal of time, Cabeza de Vaca, with the miracle, become the trader between the tribes when in the times of war. His experience as the accounting personnel before helped him to be the best option for the job. Coincidentally, this endows them a chance for the future reunion. Indeed, they succeeded in reunion and, fortunately, enjoyed a  time of free men and authority.

I agree that even in the time of 600 years ago, people started to have the idea that there should be a person who should does a job of selling, exchanging and trading between individuals, groups, and tribes when in the times of war. Cabeza de Vaca, as a trader, enjoyed being freeman and people’s respect that he couldn’t possibly have when he was being enslaved by the native Indians. This scenario reminds of the high demand of the trader in the present world. Being more globalized the world means the increase in the exchange of goods. That is why people all over the world are studying business and economics and hopefully, they could eventually become the traders. Those who choose to study the business in college not only because of the money but also because of the feeling of higher authority over others and great self-governing ability. In addition, I especially like those four survivors explaining everything based on the belief as a Christian. When they are hit by the hurricane, they considered it as God’s will. Then, when those four survivors finally gained their identities as free men, they thanked God and thought it the God’s will. I am wondered to see how the religion rooted into people’s minds. And I could tell the extent they respect their religion. However, when we looked into the context of that time, we can see the reason why. The experience of being a trader is quite interesting, and it indeed shows people what is like to do the business in 15th century.

Within the book “A Land So Strange” Cabeza de Vaca is faced with many opportunities to decide the fate of himself and his fellow Spaniards while stranded on the island known to them as Malhado, the “Isle of Ill Fate”. While on this small island, he was encountered by some of the natives who witnessed their condition of obvious starvation and lack of clothing due to a failed attempt to get their raft unstuck from the sand. The natives decided to give them food in exchange for labor, slave like labor that included some of the slave treatments like beatings if they didn’t do the job right.  Cabeza de Vaca had a choice to stay and be a slave to stay alive or leave and put his team in danger as they would most likely die in the wilderness trying to navigate their way to Panuco.

The chain of events that followed are the result of staying alive through the natives. He was able to survive and become apart of different tribes of Indians and eventually landed the opportunity to become a merchant to the Charrucos tribe, him access to be mobile and not be in danger of being beaten to death by a native. this gave him an opportunity to leave and head west to try and find Panuco and the others that left before him. If it wasn’t for his choice to stay with the natives in the beginning he would not be alive to get to the point where he would meet up with Castillo, Estabanico and Dorantes. Had Cabeza de Vaca not decided to stay and endure the 6 years of slavery, he most likely would not have survived and the others never get to their intended destination.