In chapter 8 of A Land So Strange, Andres Resendez narrates the journey of Cabeza de Vaca and his companions across vast landscapes, in which Cabeza de Vaca is frequently left in awe. Each sight is a new experience to these men, and such environments are reminiscent of nothing they have seen back home in Spain. Such evidence of Cabeza de Vaca’s interest of what the Americas have to offer is displayed when he gratifies “pine nuts that were better than those of Castile,” describing them as “small pine trees with cones ‘like small eggs,’” (Resendez 188). In this passage, Cabeza de Vaca emphasizes the grandeur of the pine nuts by comparing them to what is presumably Spain’s greatest  pine nuts, noting that they are trumped by what this new land has to offer. Although seemingly minute, this quote exemplifies Cabeza de Vaca’s language as lackluster and impressed in regards to the portions of Mexico he observes. He no longer speaks with an uncomfortable tone, conversely, he admires the beauty of his surroundings, without the bias induced by fear. Moreover, it is clear through Resendez’s speech that Cabeza de Vaca has undergone a distinct change of heart. Besides a determination to exploit untouched resources the region has to offer, Cabeza de Vaca marvels in those that simply stand to be admired, although this admiration is still surpassed by his greed for riches.

Chapter 8 of A Land So Strange deals with the journey in Mexico and their experiences traveling with various indigenous groups. Reséndez highlights the importance of trade in this chapter, something I talked about in my last blog post. Reséndez describes one such trade interaction, saying “Each time the explorers approached the next indigenous settlement on their journey, a curious exchange would ensue. 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.” This was disturbing to the castaways. However to the natives, this was considered an equal trade, as the skill of the castaways was well known and considered to be very impressive. Basically, Reséndez is describing how the natives traded goods for services, a pretty sophisticated economy. Also, the natives would escort Cabeza de Vaca and crew to the next group of natives and pillage them, so they would eventually get goods themselves, and thus the cycle repeated itself.

In the novel “A Land so Strange”, Reséndez tells the story of Cabeza de Vaca and the three other survivors of the Narváez expedition. In following the story of a group of Spanish conquistadors, at times Reséndez seems to justify the actions of the Spanish colonists and conquistadors in the new world. Occasionally, Reséndez appears to sympathize with the natives, but he does this, almost exclusively, in scenarios when he can avoid directly criticizing the Spaniards. Ironically, Reséndez makes one of his biggest concessions about the flaws of the surviving explorers while discussing the miracles that they performed and the fact that they were revered as gods by the natives. After discussing the way that a particular tribe of native peoples revered the travelers, Reséndez states “The healers may have been humane, but they were also sixteenth-century Christians. They believed that the throngs of Indians that showed so much reverence and devotion toward them would be indefinitely better off as Catholics under Spanish rule (203).” Here Reséndez seems to admit that despite the fact that the travelers had learned from their experiences in the new world, they still sought to effectively destroy the native’s way of life. This concession is a big one that is almost refreshing in this novel that often seems to support the negative actions of Cabeza de Vaca and his companions. This quote was also important because it helped connect the reader to the reality of the time period in which the novel takes place.

Within the novel A Land so Strange, Cabeza de Vaca and some 600 other Spaniards are castaways in Florida. As the novel progresses all but 3 Spaniards and one African slave die and find salvation as slaves and soon become sought after as healers throughout the new world to the native Indian people. On their way to discover new land and find maize and other valuable minerals, the 4 healers “were now capable to speak six indigenous languages….. they were of little use in a land where so many tongues were heard.” (Resendez 203). This quote from Resendez shows a couple of things about the 4 healers as they travel along in search or new land and valuable items. One of the things that Resendez is saying is that along their journey throughout the new world, they have been around natives enough to learn and be able to speak their language….. 6 different times. Another thing that he’s saying is that although they have been around enough natives to learn 6 different indigenous languages, those 6 different languages can only get them so far as there are many more languages and obstacles that face them wherever they go. Whether it be new natives and their languages, having to survive with little food and water, or having to brave new lands that they have never seen before alongside people they barely know.