Cabeza De Vaca Dbq

There was no water, food, or supplies, and the odds were stacked against Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow survivors. Cabeza de Vaca was part of an expedition to establish settlements on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, or what is now known as North America, but everything took a turn when the group got stranded. He, plus three other survivors, eventually made it to Mexico City after two years of trekking through deserts, mountains, and other rough terrains. How did he survive this crazy adventure, you ask? He survived by using the resources surrounding him, communication skills, and his healing capabilities.

In order to survive, Cabeza de Vaca had to be able to use the resources around him.
Cabeza de Vaca ate what was available, like rats, lizards, snakes, and spiders. He also used hollowed out horse legs to drink from (Doc. B). Cabeza de
He learned four languages, plus sign langauge. This allowed him to communicate with many tribes along his journey down to Mexico City (Doc. B). By having these communication skills, he managed to gain the trust of Native American tribes along the way and gather many key details from the tribes who know the area he was in. Without communication, he wouldn’t have been able to find water, he wouldn’t have able to tell if he was going to meet any unfriendly Indians, and he wouldn’t know what was safe to eat and what was.

He also used his healing capabilities to survive the long trek. Cabeza de Vaca saved many mens’ life. One example is when he performed an operation to take out an arrowhead that was located near the man’s heart. All he used was a knife and a deer bone for stitches (Doc. C). He was a healer, or shaman, to them. This caused the Native Americans to respect him because they now did not see him as a killer, like they saw the Spaniards, but they saw him as a healer. This gave him a great reputation throughout the