52 pages 1 hour read

Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca

Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1542

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Chapters 23-29Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 23 Summary: “How We Departed After Eating the Dogs”

The Europeans eat dog meat and feel strengthened enough to continue their journey. After they come across two women and some boys who flee in fear, Indigenous men approach them. The Europeans speak with them, and the Indigenous people take them to their village. The people are in awe and afraid of them. The entire village crowds around them, touching their bodies and faces. The Indigenous people ask the Europeans to heal their sick, which they do, staying for several days. When they leave, the Indigenous people are in tears because they do not want them to go.

The Indigenous people combat tactics are much like guerilla warfare today. In forests, they use trees for cover and concealment. When there are no trees, they dig trenches and hide in them to ambush their enemies. Once, while Cabeza de Vaca was with the Aguenes, they were ambushed. Three men were killed, and the others fled. Later, however, they returned to the spot of the ambush, recovered all the fired arrows, tracked their enemies, and attacked them at night, killing five.

Chapter 24 Summary: “The Customs of the Indians of That Land”

After an Indigenous woman gives birth, her husband does not sleep with her until the child turns two. Women nurse their children until age of 12 for survival.

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