I have just finished reading a book, The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, A Land So Strange, by Andres Resendez, based on the memories of Cabeza de Vaca, who was one of four survivors of a ship doomed expedition to conquer Florida. The survivors ended up off the coast of present day Texas with a group of indigenous people who adopted them into their community. Cabeza de Vaca considered himself enslaved, because he had to work, like the members of the tribe. He and the other three survivors, thee Spanish and one a Moroccan who had been enslaved by the Spanish, went on an amazing journey across the southern part of what is now the U.S.. They were identified as “healers” and lived among the indigenous people who passed them on from group to group, to share their healing powers. Without the horses, armour and forged weapons, which gave the Spanish military dominance over the indigenous people, Cabeza de Vaca grows to respect the indigenous people. Not quite understanding their attitude toward property, which is based on sharing rather than greed, he nonetheless grows to respect and admire the people he meets. He is amazed at the vast trading network, which spans the continent. When he arrives at the Pacific coast, he is alarmed by the devastation which has occured as a result of the Spanish slave traders. Fertile lands are abandoned. Indigenous people who had been wealthy and prosperous before the Spanish invasion had fled. When Cabeza de Vaca proposed peaceful cooperation to the Spaniards, he was dismissed and the indigenous people who had returned on the promise of the “healers” were betrayed. Throughout the book it is possible to see the two paradigms in conflict, that of feudalism based on domination, enslavement and greed and the indigenous attitudes of freedom, community and generosity.
These indigenous attitudes and institutions would change the world. Cabeza de Vaca’s journal would be added to that of other explorers who were realizing that the economy and society could be organized in a different order, leading to European enlightenment, based on indigenous values. On this October 8, traditionally Columbus day, we should instead celebrate the indigenous people who changed the world and enlightened Europe, at least somewhat. We should also recognize that the same conflicting paradigms, fuedalism, tyranny, domination versus personal freedom, unalienable rights and community continue to be in conflict and to shape our societies and economies today.
Sources:
Mohawk Nation; “ A Basid Call to Consciousness, The Hau de no sau nee Address to the Western World” Geneva, Switzerland, Autumn 1977 published by Akwesasne Notes, Mowhak Nation, Via Roseveltown, NY 1978 https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/6nations1.html
Resendez, Andres; The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, A Land So Strange, the Extraordinary Tale of a Shipwrecked Spaniard Who Walked Across America in the Sixteenth Century, Basic books, NY 2007