Indians+of+the+Rio+Grande

Da Bin Lee Sue Seo Eddie Cho (and the new student... sorry, I forgot to write her name down... it will be posted as soon as possible.)

=== I. Author: Panfilo de Havarez—a Spanish explorer who was enslaved by coastal Natives for six years. Usually, European’s position during encounters with Native Americans was usually that of conqueror; however, in this particular case, his crews and the explorer himself were captured by the Natives, experiencing the role of being inferior. ===

=== II. Place and Time: The source was written down in journal form in around 1528 to 1536. The information was produced in Mexican region (the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, Southwestern and Southern Mexico City). Columbus’s first arrival (that took place in 1492) was not too long ago; therefore people lacked sufficient information about the Natives. As a result, Panfilo paid careful attention to the daily lives of the Natives, observing their characteristics and characteristics. ===

=== III. Prior Knowledge: Many of the Native tribes performed dances and held regular feasts (some of the behaviors that were described in this source). Although many Native Americans still had hunter-and-gathering system as their economic basis, some of them still managed to establish permanent settlement (one of the described daily life patterns). ===

=== IV. Audience: The main audience of this source would be Europeans who were interested in Texas and northern Mexico and the native peoples who lived their. Certain degrees of bias and prejudice might have affected the reliability of this source, since language barrier was definitely an issue that prevented complete understanding of the Native cultures at the time. ===

=== VI. The Main Idea: Descriptions of “a big river”, “great many deer”, and other hospitable natural conditions definitely convey a positive attitude. Moreover, the Native people’s treatment toward the captured (enslaved) Spanish crews was generous. The Natives built them houses, provided meals, and brought them mats. ===

=== VII. Significance: This source is interesting since it shows the reversed-situation of the power balance between the Native Americans and European explorers. It also demonstrates how the Natives and Europeans could live together without causing major (belligerent) conflicts. ===