Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

The Chronicle of the Narváez expedition is an engrossing tale of the early attempts by Spain to colonize North America, and it stands in stark contrast to the successes experienced by Hernán Cortés in his conquest of the Aztecs. Pánfilo de Narváez knew Cortés personally and had even been imprisoned by that conqueror, so it is no stretch of the imagination to think that Narváez wanted to conquer territory and bring back to Spain riches to parallel Cortés. However, unlike Cortés or even his predecessor to Florida, Ponce de León, Narváez failed to conquer anything, and the attempt cost him and hundreds of his men their lives. One of the few survivors, Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, found himself changed from conquering warrior to someone struggling to survive. Cabeza de Vaca and his three other companions lived among Indigenous people of the lands through which they traveled, gaining respect for them and their ways of life. This newfound respect, coupled with the men’s unquestionable Catholic faith, transformed them from conquerors to missionaries and diplomats.

Cabeza de Vaca marks this transition by describing himself and the others as “naked as we had been born” (32)—a significant change that strips him of his conquistador armor and Spanish dress, placing him on par with Indigenous people, who were unclothed.