1. How would you describe the initial contacts between the Spaniards and the Native Americans? How did each group view the others and how did that shape their initial cross-cultural encounters? 2. Wha

Discussion 2: Cabeza de Vaca: Adventures in the Unknown Interior of the Americas

Your discussion assignment for this week has one step:

• By 2/5/2020 by 11:59PM, post and initial post that answers the following discussion questions. Try to write at least a full paragraph for each discussion point

Discussion Questions:

1. How would you describe the initial contacts between the Spaniards and the Native Americans? How did each group view the others and how did that shape their initial cross-cultural encounters?

1. What happened to Cabez de Vaca? How did the Native Americans treat him? What key skills did he learn during his captivity?

1. 3. What happened that dramatically changed the plight of Cabeza de Vaca and the other surviving Spanish? How did the Native Americans treat Cabeza de Vaca after he became a healer?

1. Who was using whom in the new relationship between Cabeza de Vaca the healer and the Native Americans? Did both sides gain from this relationship?

5. In the end, what was Cabeza de Vaca’s plan to conquer the Native Americans? Why wasn’t military force and slavery part of his plan?

1. Thinking about this issue in the big picture, how would you define the overall conquest of the Americas by Europeans? What did it mean for Europeans? What did it mean for the Pre-Columbian population of the Americas? What should we think historically about Columbus Day?