Literature F O C U S

Native American Mythology

Centuries before the first Europeans arrived on Many Native American myths emphasize
the shores of North America, Native a strong spiritual bond between the Creator,
Americans had established hundreds of thriving humanity, and the entire natural world. They
nations, each with a unique culture and her- emphasize that it is the duty of humanity to
itage. Each nation had its own tradition of oral maintain a balance within their natural world.
literature—stories that were passed down from In many cultures, each family group, or clan,
one generation to the next as they were told believed it descended from or had a strong con-
and retold in the privacy of households and in nection to a particular animal or other natural
tribal ceremonies. object. This animal or object is called the
An important part of the oral tradition of totem. Members of the bear clan, for example,
each culture was its myths. A myth is an anony- honored the bear. The bear in turn served as
mous, traditional story that relies on the super- the group’s guardian spirit, helping and protect-
natural to explain a natural phenomenon, an ing its members. The bear clan was responsible
aspect of human behavior, or a mystery of the for preserving the myths of the bear.
universe. Myths try to explain why the world is Another common feature of Native
the way it is. They provide imaginative ways to American mythology is the trickster. These
help people feel at home in the world and make animal characters have two sides to their
sense of it. Creation myths tell how the world personalities. Tricksters are rebels who defy
and human life came to exist. Some myths, authority and sometimes create trouble and
called origin myths, explain how natural phe- chaos. However, they are also curious, clever,
nomena such as the stars, moon, and mountains and creative figures who can unexpectedly
came to be or why a society has certain beliefs reveal wisdom. In many myths, the trickster is
and customs. Often, the qualities of creation a coyote, a raven, or a mink. In one
myths and origin myths appear in one story. Native American myth, the coyote
A Taos Pueblo story explains: brings death into the world when he
When Earth was still young and giants realizes the earth will become too
still roamed the land, a great sickness crowded if people live forever.
came upon them. All of them died except Myths and rituals continue to
for a small boy. One day while he was play a central role in traditional
playing, a snake bit Native American cultures. They are
him. The boy cried used to give people a
and cried. The blood sense of order and iden-
came out, and finally tity, to heal the sick, to
he died. With his tears ensure a plentiful supply
our lakes became. With his of food, to initiate young
blood the red clay became. With his body people into adulthood, and to
our mountains became, and that was how teach moral lessons.
Earth became.

46
UNIT 1
 Before You Read
How the World Was Made and The Sky Tree

The Oral Tradition

Both of these stories come from an oral tradition.
Storytellers passed along such tales by word of
mouth. No one really knows where the stories origi-
nated. Native Americans have written down these
stories only in the past hundred years. Long before
that, however, the storytellers helped groups under-
stand and record their daily lives and their history.
Native American storytellers often tell tales of
nature. The two pieces you are about to read are
origin myths. They tell how the world or some part
of it came to be.
These two stories have been passed down for
many hundreds of years. They come from different
forests of the Great Smoky Mountains. “The Sky
cultures, yet both stories show a great reverence for
Tree” comes from the Huron people of the Great
the natural world. “How the World Was Made”
Lakes region.
comes from the Cherokee people, who lived in the

Reading Focus
In what ways does nature, or the natural world, affect your life? For example, are you
more cheerful on a sunny day?
Share Ideas In a group, share experiences of the natural world and your reac-
tions to them—anything from the sense of awe at seeing a mountain to the frustra-
tion of being caught in a downpour.
Setting a Purpose Read to learn the attitudes these tales reflect about nature
and the place of humans in the natural world.

Building Background
Recording the Oral Tradition
The Cherokee passed down the myth “How the World Was Made” from generation to generation. Then,
around 1890, James Mooney, an anthropologist for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., lis-
tened to the tale and wrote it down. He first published the story in 1891.
The Huron myth “The Sky Tree” is retold by Joseph Bruchac, a member of the Abenaki Native American
group in northern New York State. Bruchac published this myth in 1991.

Vocabulary Preview
vault (v
olt) n. an arched structure forming a roof conjurer (konjər ər) n. one who performs magic;
or ceiling; p. 48 sorcerer; p. 49
alight (ə l¯t) v. to descend and come to rest; p. 48

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS
47

 (Cherokee—Great Smoky Mountains)

Retold by James Mooney

THE EARTH IS A GREAT ISLAND FLOATING IN A SEA OF WATER,
and suspended at each of the four cardinal points1 by a cord hanging down from
the sky vault, which is of solid rock. When the world grows old and worn out, the
people will die and the cords will break and let the earth sink down into the
ocean, and all will be water again. The Indians are afraid of this.
When all was water, the animals were above in be time, and they sent out the Buzzard and
Gălûñ´lătı̆ (
o lun(
) lot i), beyond the arch; but told him to go and make ready for them. This
it was very much crowded, and they were want- was the Great Buzzard, the father of all the
ing more room. They wondered what was below buzzards we see now. He flew all over the
the water, and at last Dâyuni´sı̆ (do yun ē si), earth, low down near the ground, and it was
“Beaver’s Grandchild,” the little Water-beetle, still soft. When he reached the Cherokee
offered to go and see if it could learn. It darted in country, he was very tired, and his wings
every direction over the surface of the water, but began to flap and strike the ground, and wher-
could find no firm place to rest. Then it dived to ever they struck the earth there was a valley,
the bottom and came up with some soft mud, and where they turned up again there was a
which began to grow and spread on every side mountain. When the animals above saw this,
until it became the island which we call the they were afraid that the whole world would
earth. It was afterward fastened to the sky with be mountains, so they called him back, but
four cords, but no one remembers who did this. the Cherokee country remains full of moun-
At first the earth was flat and very soft and tains to this day.
wet. The animals were anxious to get down, When the earth was dry and the animals
and sent out different birds to see if it was yet came down, it was still dark, so they got the
dry, but they found no place to alight and came sun and set it in a track to go every day across
back again to Gălûñ´lătı̆. At last it seemed to the island from east to west, just overhead. It
was too hot this way, and Tsiska´gı̆lı̆´
1. The four cardinal points are the four main directions on a (chēs ka
i li´), the Red Crawfish, had his shell
compass (north, south, east, and west). scorched a bright red, so that his meat was

Vocabulary
vault (volt) n. an arched structure forming a roof or ceiling
alight (ə l¯t) v. to descend and come to rest

48  UNIT 1
spoiled; and the Cherokee do not eat it. The told to watch and keep awake for seven nights,
conjurers put the sun another hand-breadth2 just as young men now fast and keep awake
higher in the air, but it was still too hot. They when they pray to their medicine.3 They tried
raised it another time, and another, until it to do this, and nearly all were awake through
was seven handbreadths high and just under the first night, but the next night several
the sky arch. Then it was right, and they left dropped off to sleep, and the third night others
it so. This is why the conjurers call the high- were asleep, and then others, until, on the sev-
est place Gûlkwâ´gine Di´gălûñ´lătiyûñ´ enth night, of all the animals only the owl, the
(
ul kwo
ē nā dē´
ol un(
) lot ē yun(
)), “the panther, and one or two more were still awake.
seventh height,” because it is seven hand- To these were given the power to see and to go
breadths above the earth. Every day the sun about in the dark, and to make prey of the birds
goes along under this arch, and returns at and animals which must sleep at night. Of the
night on the upper side to the starting place. trees only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the
There is another world under this, and it is holly, and the laurel were awake to the end, and
like ours in everything—animals, plants, and to them it was given to be always green and to
people—save that the seasons are different. be greatest for medicine, but to the others it was
The streams that come down from the moun- said: “Because you have not endured to the end
tains are the trails by which we reach this you shall lose your hair every winter.”
underworld, and the springs at their heads are Men came after the animals and plants. At
the doorways by which we enter it, but to do first there were only a brother and sister until he
this one must fast and go to water and have struck her with a fish and told her to multiply,
one of the underground people for a guide. We and so it was. In seven days a child was born to
know that the seasons in the underworld are her, and thereafter every seven days another,
different from ours, because the water in the and they increased very fast until there was dan-
springs is always warmer in winter and cooler ger that the world could not keep them. Then it
in summer than the outer air. was made that a woman should have only one
When the animals and plants were first child in a year, and it has been so ever since.
made—we do not know by whom—they were
3. Many Native American cultures believe that each plant, ani-
2. A hand-breadth is a unit of measurement based on the width mal, and human has its own natural spirit that gives it power.
of a hand. It varies from 2¹⁄₂ to 4 inches. Medicine, in this instance, refers to this spirit.

Vocabulary
conjurer (konjər ər) n. one who performs magic; sorcerer

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS  49

Sky Woman, 1936. Ernest Smith. Oil on canvas, 24¹⁄₄ x 18¹⁄₈ in. Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, NY.

50
UNIT 1
 ( H u r o n — E a s t e r n Wo o d l a n d )

Retold by Joseph Bruchac 

IN THE BEGINNING, EARTH WAS COVERED it split in half and toppled over. As it fell a hole
with water. In Sky Land, there were people liv- opened in Sky Land and the tree fell through
ing as they do now on Earth. In the middle of the hole. Aataentsic returned to the place
that land was the great Sky Tree. All of the where the old chief waited.
food which the peo- “My husband,” she said, “when I cut the tree
ple in that Sky Land it split in half and then fell through a great
ate came from the hole. Without the tree, there can be no life. I
great tree. The old must follow it.”
chief of that land Then, leaving her husband she went back to
lived with his wife, the hole in Sky Land and threw herself after the
whose name was great tree.
Did You Know?
A longhouse was a bark- Aataentsic, meaning As Aataentsic fell, Turtle looked up and saw
covered communal home that “Ancient Woman,” her. Immediately Turtle called together all the
could have space for as many in their longhouse water animals and told them what she had seen.
as ten families as well as
rooms for meetings and reli- near the great tree. It “What should be done?” Turtle said.
gious ceremonies. came to be that the Beaver answered her. “You are the one who
old chief became saw this happen. Tell us what to do.”
sick and nothing could cure him. He grew “All of you must dive down,” Turtle said.
weaker and weaker until it seemed he would “Bring up soil from the bottom, and place it on
die. Then a dream came to him and he called my back.”
Aataentsic to him. Immediately all of the water animals began
“I have dreamed,” he said, “and in my to dive down and bring up soil. Beaver, Mink,
dream I saw how I can be healed. I must be Muskrat, and Otter each brought up pawfuls of
given the fruit which grows at the very top of wet soil and placed the soil on the Turtle’s back
Sky Tree. You must cut it down and bring that until they had made an island of great size.
fruit to me.” When they were through, Aataentsic settled
Aataentsic took her husband’s stone ax and down gently on the new Earth and the pieces of
went to the great tree. As soon as she struck it, the great tree fell beside her and took root.


FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS
51
 Active Reading and Critical Thinking

Responding to Literature
Personal Response
What passages from the myths are the most memorable to you? Why?

Analyzing Literature

Recall and Interpret

1. What is Water-beetle’s role in the creation of Earth? What does this tell you about
Cherokee reverence for all creatures?
2. What do the “conjurers” do? Who do you think the “conjurers” are? Explain.
3. Name three natural phenomena explained in this myth. Why might people create stories
about how such things came to be?

Evaluate and Connect

4. For the Cherokee people, are humans more important than plants and animals, or are
humans equal to them? Give examples from the myth to support your view.
5. At some points, the narrator says “No one remembers” or “We do not know.” How do
you think these phrases enhance the myth? Explain.

Recall and Interpret

6. Why was the Sky Tree important to the inhabitants of Sky Land?
7. Why does the old woman try to cut down the Sky Tree? What does this tell you?
8. According to the myth, how was the Earth formed? What imagery (see page R8) is used
to describe Earth in the myth?

Evaluate and Connect

9. Theme Connections Would this great beginning have occurred without the old chief’s
dream? Do you think his dream comes true?
10. Consider Turtle’s role in this myth. If you saw a turtle in a Huron work of art, what might
be its meaning within the work?

Extending Your Response

Writing About Literature Creative Writing
Comparison of the Myths Both selections tell how life on Your Own Myth Using these two myths as a model, write
Earth came to be. Write a paragraph that compares and con- an origin myth of your own about some element of nature.
trasts one of the following aspects of the myths: what life Tell what the world was like before this element existed. Tell
was like before Earth was created; how the sky and Earth are how it came to be and how it made the world different. For
described; significant roles played by plants, animals, or ideas, think about the reactions to nature you shared in the
humans. Reading Focus on page 47.

Save your work for your portfolio.

52
UNIT 1
Popocatepetl- -Iztaccihuatl volcanoes
(southeast of Mexico City)
 Before You Read
from La Relación

Meet New World. Of a group originally num-

bering six hundred men, only four sur-
Álvar Núñez
vived, and Cabeza de Vaca was the only
Cabeza de Vaca one to return to Spain, embarking from

“ . . . we were entering a land for

which we had no description, without
Mexico in 1537. In 1540, Cabeza de
Vaca was appointed governor of several
knowing what kind of place it was, nor Spanish posts in what is now Paraguay,
by what people it was inhabited, nor in but was later arrested for reasons not
which part of it we were.
”
—Cabeza de Vaca
clear to historians. Cabeza de Vaca was
returned to Spain in chains. Eventually, however,
the Spanish government freed him. He is believed
The Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de
to have died in poverty.
Vaca (
al v
ar n¯¯¯
oonyez k
a bā z
a dā b
ak
a)
wrote these words in La Relación (The Account), a Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was born around 1490 and
description of a hazardous eight-year odyssey in the died sometime around 1556.

Reading Focus Building Background

Imagine that you are planning an The Time and Place
expedition to an unknown or little- In June 1527, Cabeza de Vaca set sail as treasurer of a Spanish expedition to the
known place—a distant planet or land that today is Florida. The expedition arrived near what is now Tampa Bay in
Antarctica, perhaps. What problems April of 1528. Pánfilo de Narváez, the expedition’s leader, decided to march inland
might you encounter? How might with three hundred men. The land party never saw the ships again. Due to poor
you best prepare? planning, hunger, disease, and hostilities with Native Americans, many of the men
died. The survivors, hoping to reach a Spanish settlement in present-day Mexico,
Chart It! Create a two-column
built five crude barges and sailed west along the coast.
chart to prepare for your expedition.
In one column, list concerns or The barge Cabeza de Vaca commanded landed near present-day Galveston, Texas.
problems that you might face along Native Americans there gave him and his men food and shelter, but many of the
the way. In the second column, group died during the first winter. Eventually, only four survived, walking until they
describe ways to solve or prevent met Spanish soldiers in central Mexico in 1536.
these problems. Share your ideas
The following excerpt from Cabeza de Vaca’s report begins when his barge and
with the class.
another become separated from Narváez’s near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Problems Solutions Did You Know?
1. 1. Cabeza de Vaca was among the few early explorers who called for a policy of
justice and tolerance toward native peoples of the Western Hemisphere.

Vocabulary Preview
Setting a Purpose Read to ration (rashən) n. fixed portion or revive (ri v¯v) v. to give new strength
learn how one group of explorers share; p. 62 and vitality, or to bring back to con-
responded to great difficulties. rouse (rouz) v. to awaken from sleep; sciousness; p. 62
p. 62 embark (em b
ark) v. to set out on
a venture; p. 64

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS
61

 Á l v a r N ú ñ e z C a b e z a d e Va c a
Tr a n s l a t e d b y M a r t i n A . F a v a t a a n d J o s é B . F e r n á n d e z


We sailed in this manner together for four Near dawn I thought I heard the roar of the
days, eating a daily ration of half a handful of breakers1 near shore, which was very loud
raw corn. After four days a storm came up and because the coast was low. Surprised by this, I
caused the other boat to be lost. We did not roused the sailing master, who said he thought
sink because of God’s great mercy. The we were near land. We took a sounding and
weather was rough, very cold, and wintery. found that the water was seven fathoms2 deep.
We had been suffering from hunger for many He thought that we should stay out until
days and had been pounded so much by the dawn. So I took an oar and rowed along the
sea that the following day many men began coast, which was a league3 distant. Then we set
to faint. By nightfall all the men in my boat our stern4 to sea.
had passed out, one on top of another, so near Near land a great wave took us and cast
death that few of them were conscious and the boat out of the water as far as a horseshoe
fewer than five were still upright. During the can be tossed. The boat ran aground with
night only the sailing master and I were left such force that it revived the men on it who
to sail the boat. Two hours after nightfall he were almost dead. When they saw they were
told me I should take over because he was in near land they pushed themselves overboard
such a condition that he and crawled on their hands and knees. When
tiller thought he would die they got to the beach, we lit a fire by some
that very night; so I took rocks and toasted some of the corn we had
the tiller. In the middle and found rain water. With the warmth of the
of the night, I went to fire, the men revived and began to regain
see if the sailing master some of their strength. We arrived at this
had died, but he told place on the sixth of November.
me that he was better
Did You Know? and that he would steer Once our people had eaten, I sent Lope de
A tiller is a lever attached to
the rudder of a boat. It is used until daybreak. At that Oviedo, who was stronger and fitter than the
to steer the boat. time I certainly would
have rather died than 1. Breakers are waves that foam as they break on rocks or a
see so many people before me in that condi- shoreline.
2. A fathom is a linear measure equal to six feet, used mainly in
tion. After the sailing master took over the measuring the depth of water.
boat, I tried to rest some but could not, and 3. A league is a measure of distance equal to three miles.
sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. 4. The stern is the rear part of a boat or ship.

Vocabulary
ration (rash
ən, rā
shən) n. fixed portion or share
rouse (rouz) v. to awaken from sleep
revive (ri v¯ v
) v. to give new strength and vitality, or bring back to consciousness

62  UNIT 1
Cabeza de Vaca in the Desert, 1906. Frederic Remington. Oil on canvas. Courtesy Frederic Remington Art
Museum, Ogdensburg, NY.
Viewing the painting: How would you describe Cabeza de Vaca’s (center) expression? What might
account for this expression?

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS  63

rest of us, to climb one of the trees nearby to The following day at sunrise, at the time the
sight the land and find out something about Indians had indicated, they came to us as
it. He did this and saw that we were on an promised, bringing us much fish, some roots
island, and that the land appeared to have which they eat, the size of walnuts, some larger
been trampled by livestock. He thought for or smaller. Most of these are pulled with great
this reason that it must be a country of difficulty from under the water. In the evening
Christians, and told us so. I told him to look they returned to bring us more fish and the
again very carefully to see if there were any same kind of roots. They had their women and
paths that could be followed, but not to go children come to see us and they considered
too far because of possible danger. He found a themselves rich with little bells and beads that
path and followed it for half a league and we gave them. The following days they
found some unoccupied Indian huts, for the returned to visit with the same things as before.
Indians had gone into the fields. He took a Seeing that we were provisioned with fish,
pot from one of them, a small dog and some roots, water, and the other things we requested,
mullet5 and started back. we agreed to embark on our voyage once again.
We thought he was taking a long time to We dug up the boat from the sand. We had to
return, so I sent two other Christians to look strip naked and struggle mightily to launch it,
for him and find out what had happened to because we were so weak that lesser tasks
him. They found him near there, pursued by would have been enough to exhaust us. Once
three Indians with bows and arrows. They we were out from the shore the distance of two
were calling out to him and he was trying to crossbow shots, a wave struck us quite a blow
speak to them through sign language. He got and got us all wet. Since we were naked and it
to where we were and the Indians stayed back was very cold, we let go of the oars. Another
a bit seated on the same shore. Half an hour strong wave caused the boat to capsize. The
later another one hundred Indian bowmen Inspector and two other men held on to it to
appeared. We were so scared that they seemed survive, but quite the opposite occurred
to us to be giants, whether they were or not. because the boat pulled them under and they
They stopped near us, where the first three drowned. Since the surf was very rough, the
were. We could not even think of defending sea wrapped all the men in its waves, except
ourselves, since there were scarcely six men the three that had been pulled under by the
who could even get up from the ground. The boat, and cast them on the shore of the same
Inspector and I went towards them and called island. Those of us who survived were as naked
them, and they approached us. As best we as the day we were born and had lost every-
could we tried to reassure them and ourselves, thing we had. Although the few things we had
and gave them beads and little bells. Each of were of little value, they meant a lot to us.
them gave me an arrow, which is a sign of It was November then and the weather was
friendship. In sign language they told us that very cold. We were in such a state that our
they would return in the morning and bring bones could easily be counted and we looked
us food, since they did not have any at the like the picture of death. I can say for myself
time. that I had not eaten anything but parched
corn since the previous May, and sometimes I
5. A mullet is a type of fish. had to eat it raw. Although the horses were

Vocabulary
embark (em bark
) v. to set out on a venture

64  UNIT 1
 Á l v a r N ú ñ e z C a b e z a d e Va c a

slaughtered while we were building the boats, some who had been in New Spain6 responded
I was never able to eat them, and I had eaten that we should not even think about it,
fish fewer than ten times. This is but a brief because if they took us to their lodges they
comment, since anyone can imagine what would sacrifice us to their idols.7 But seeing
shape we were in. On top of all this, the north that we had no other recourse and that any
wind began to blow, and so we were closer to other action would certainly bring us closer to
death than to life. It pleased our Lord to let us death, I did not pay attention to what they
find some embers among the coals of the fire were saying and I asked the Indians to take us
we had made, and we made large fires. In this to their lodges. They indicated that they would
way we asked our Lord’s mercy and the for- be very pleased to do this. They asked us to
giveness of our sins, shedding many tears, with wait a bit and then they would do what we
each man pitying not only wanted. Then thirty of them
himself but all the others who loaded themselves with fire-
were in the same condition. The Indians, seeing the wood and went to their lodges,
At sunset the Indians,
disaster that had come which were far from there. We
thinking that we had not gone, stayed with the others until
upon us and brought so
looked for us again and nearly nightfall, when they
much misfortune and
brought us food. When they held on to us and took us
misery, sat down with us.
saw us in such a different state hastily to their lodges. Since it
of attire and looking so was so cold and they feared
strange, they were so frightened that they drew that someone might faint or die on the way,
back. I went out to them and called them and they had provided for four or five large fires to
they returned very frightened. I let them know be placed at intervals, and they warmed us at
through sign language that one of our boats had each one. Once they saw that we had gained
sunk and that three of our men had drowned. some strength and gotten warmer, they took us
And there before their very eyes they saw two to the next one so rapidly that our feet scarcely
of the dead men, and those of us who were alive touched the ground. In this way we went to
seemed as if we would soon join them. their lodges and found that they had one ready
The Indians, seeing the disaster that had for us with many fires lighted in it. Within an
come upon us and brought so much misfortune hour of our arrival they began to dance and
and misery, sat down with us. They felt such have a great celebration that lasted all night.
great pain and pity at seeing us in such a state For us there was no pleasure nor celebration
that they all began to cry so loudly and sin- nor sleep because we were waiting to see when
cerely that they could be heard from afar. This they would sacrifice us. In the morning they
went on for more than half an hour. In fact, again gave us fish and roots and treated us so
seeing that these crude and untutored people, well that we were a little reassured and lost
who were like brutes, grieved so much for us, some of our fear of being sacrificed.
caused me and the others in my company to
suffer more and think more about our misfor-
6. New Spain was a part of the Spanish Empire in the 1500s. It
tune. When their crying ceased, I told the included Venezuela, Florida, Mexico, Central America, and
Christians that, if they agreed, I would ask other territory. Mexico City was its capital.
those Indians to take us to their lodges. And 7. Idols are images of gods used as objects of worship.


FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS  65
 Active Reading and Critical Thinking

Responding to Literature
Personal Response
What questions would you like to ask Cabeza de Vaca?

Analyzing Literature Literary Criticism

Recall and Interpret “One of [Cabeza de Vaca’s] underlying themes,” contends
1. How do Cabeza de Vaca and his men reach the island? William T. Pilkington, “. . . is the physical and emotional
Why might their landing on the island seem like a miracle struggle for an accommodation between races—a conflict
to them? that . . . has always been a factor in the works of our best and
2. Why do the native people chase Lope de Oviedo? How most vital writers.” Is this struggle, in your opinion, a theme
does the behavior of Oviedo and his pursuers reveal each of the excerpt? Discuss your answer with a partner.
group’s assumptions about the other?
3. How do the native people help Cabeza de Vaca and his
men? What do you think prompts natives to act as they Literary ELEMENTS
do?
4. What do the Spanish fear in the narrative at the end of Narrator
the selection? In your opinion, is their fear well-founded? The narrator tells what happens in a story. When the
Explain your position. work is nonfiction and the narrator is also a character in
Evaluate and Connect the story, a reader must be aware of a certain degree of
5. What might have motivated Cabeza de Vaca to continue bias. Keep in mind that a narrator recalls what he or she
his journey in spite of overwhelming difficulties? considers important and relates it in a way that suits the
6. In your opinion, were the explorers sufficiently prepared writer’s purpose.
for their journey? What might you have done differently? 1. In La Relación, the narrator gives accounts of people,
Refer to your responses for the Reading Focus on page places, and events. How might this story have been
61. different if one of Cabeza de Vaca’s men had told it?
7. La Relación is still valued as a first-person account of the How might it have been different if told by one of the
early history and culture of North America. To whom Native Americans?
might this narrative be important? What questions might 2. Cabeza de Vaca as portrayed in this selection is a
it answer? strong, resourceful character. What details create this
8. What situations in contemporary life might require skills positive image?
and courage similar to that displayed by Cabeza de Vaca? • See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R10.
Explain your response.

Extending Your Response

Writing About Literature Literature Groups
Description Description helps writers bring events to life. Justice for All? In your group, read aloud passages in
Choose a passage in La Relación and examine Cabeza de which Cabeza de Vaca interacts with the native people and
Vaca’s choice of descriptive words. Evaluate the effectiveness evaluate the attitudes he displays. Discuss whether later
of his descriptions and the ways in which they add to the European explorers and settlers in the Americas would agree
value of the work for readers hundreds of years later. or disagree with his attitudes. Have one person in your group
Organize your comments in a one-page paper. summarize the discussion for the class.

Save your work for your portfolio.

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UNIT 1