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Cabeza De Vaca Research Paper

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Cabeza de Vaca’s Survival Secrets Imagine that you are cold, lonely, and stranded on an empty island with only 3 other people. What would you do? Cabeza de Vaca and the other 3 survivors’ raft has been washed ashore on the Isle de Malhado, an island also known as the Island of Bad Luck. It was November of 1528, and the clueless Spaniards had no ships, let alone clothes and food. So how did Cabeza manage to survive this grueling, thousand mile expedition to Mexico City with his 3 fellow explorers? Although a large portion of it was luck, Cabeza de Vaca was able to survive due to the respect and trust he earned from the Indians, his advanced communication skills, and his impressive wilderness skills. To begin with, Cabeza survived because of the respect and trust he earned from the Indians. One day, the Indians brought him a man that had an arrowhead stuck in his chest. Cabeza bravely took charge and performed a very difficult surgery in hope to remove the sharp arrowhead that was located near the man’s right shoulder. He thought quickly, and used a knife as a tool to pull it out. After, Cabeza used a deer bone to stitch up the wound in order to finalize a successful operation. (Doc. C) Because of this remarkable act, Cabeza became “famous”. The Indians now …show more content…

In all, Cabeza learned how to speak 5 languages. Four of them 5 were Indian languages, including Charrucos. He also learned sign language. (Doc. B) The ability to speak different languages helped Cabeza de Vaca survive because when Indians realized he could speak an Indian language, they did not judge him and didn’t recognize him as a traditional Spanish conquistador. If he were to speak his normal language, there is a very big chance that the Indians would kill him. Also, Cabeza used his communication skills to interact with other Indian tribes to trade with them and ask for directions on where something or someplace

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