1. How would you describe Cabeza de Vaca’s relationship with his superior, Pamfilo de Narvaez?  How would you characterize the general relationships between
the various members of this expedition?  Did these relationships change over time?
2. What were some of Cabeza de Vaca’s initial feelings toward the tribal peoples of the Gulf Coast?  Using his account, describe some of the cultural “lifeways” –
beliefs, customs, social structure, and material culture -- of the natives of this region.
3. In the years after the shipwreck, how were Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow explorers able to survive?
4. How did the tribal people respond to Cabeza de Vaca?  Did their responses to the Spaniards change over the years?  Why?
5. In what ways did Cabeza de Vaca’s experiences between 1527-1537 change him, as a man, as a representative of the Spanish crown, and as a devout
Christian?
6. Imagine that you lived in 16th Spain.  What aspects of Cabeza de Vaca’s account would you have found most interesting and important?
 

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