The poetic De Vaca

Gustavo Quintero
English 48A
September 28, 2007
Journal #4 Norton anthology

Quote:
"We had come from the sunrise, they from the sunset;we healed the sick, they killed the sound; we came naked and barefoot, they clothed, horsed, and lanced; we coveted nothing but gave whatever we were given, while they robbed whomever they found and bestowed nothing on anyone."

Summary:
De Vaca is summarizing what the two sides of cultures did to each other. He is closing out his journals writing about the hardships that the European explorers brought to the existing tribes of America. He is also stating how the tribes reacted to the actions of the European explorers.

Response:
This is a very powerful and beautifully written quote. Although I cannot take the credit for picking it out of the assigned reading. I do not know her name but a fellow classmate was the one that brought this quote up in our classes Wednesday discussion. I just think this quote really sums up just how De Vaca felt about the Native Americans that captured and later took him throughout his stay in their tribes. The story of De Vaca reminds me greatly of the conservationist Dian Fossey because like De Vaca she lived with a group(in her case gorillas) to study them and later make people aware of their possible extinction. As I said in a previous blog I find it incredible that De Vaca was able to see just how valuable and human the Native Americans were. For him to campaign for the Native Americans truly show s just how great a man he was.

Now to add to Wednesdays discussion of the above quote, I read the above quote and am struck by just how flawlessly and beautifully De Vacas' s words flow off the page. The compare and contrast technique that he uses for the Europeans and the Native Americans really helps drive home his point. "We coveted nothing but gave whatever we were given", this sense of commitment to do right is what proves that the Native Americans were not a people to be enslaved but rather a people to be celebrated and respected. This goes for all the races of people that were enslaved during the times of heavy European exploration. This quote also shows the complete assimilation of De Vaca into the Native American culture. His use of the word "we" shows how he actually views himself; as a member of a Native American tribe.