— Shadows of the Native People —

Follow the Gulf's perfume down to the shore. Follow the cries of the gulls. Stay for a while, and let the breeze play with your hair. Stay for a while, until you can hear them in the whisper of the waves against the shore. Touch the sparkling water which tickled their bronzed children into squeals and laughter. Here, their women's eyes smiled toward tomorrow. Here, they lived in profound connection with all nature. They are gone now. But you can find the things which sang to their hearts, if you stay a while and listen.

Reenactors Larry May, Heidy May, Tim Burke, Collin King, Elizabeth Neily, and Hermann Trappman, posed at the Narváez Landing reenactment organized by Florida Frontiers in April 2001. Most reenactors I have met are historians. They do not "celebrate" the story of conquest. Instead, they offer us very important insites about ourselves, our origins, and how we interpret our modern world.

Today, to discuss or portray the conquista is thought to be "politically incorrect". We'd prefer to forget that dark part of our story. Like a good book, the lessons of history has bad guys, as well as, good guys. It is simply the dynamics of life.

The men who came to the conquister the Americas were part of an incredible story and performed inconceivable deeds of bravery, as well as, bloodthirsty barbarism. By looking back on their lives, perhaps we can judge the fiber from which we are made.

When Juan Ponce de Leon first stepped ashore on the Day of the Flowers, Easter Sunday, 1513, he was on a slaving expedition. European diseases and ill treatment had wiped out the native populations on the islands of first discovery in the Carribean. Florida was greeted as a land of new opportunities. Ponce de Leon carried a contract from his king "to settle the Islands of Bimini and the lands discovered." This contract stated that the native people must be given the option of becoming surfs [labor for the conquistadors] or, when they didn't comply, they could be taken as slaves.

In 1521 Ponce de Leon returned to south Florida to establish a colony. Aware of Spanish intentions, Calusa warriors attacked his expedition, severely wounding Ponce de Leon. Eventually he died from his wound.

The Spanish conquistadors carried with them a religion whose defining symbol is an image of intolerance and torture — the cross. They carried memories brimming with violence and fear. Moreover, their method of gaining control of their lives was through the accumulation of personal wealth and by the subjugation of others. It never worked. No matter how much wealth they accumulated, nor how much power they wielded, they always needed more. Conquistadors believed, that if they could only get enough, they would be okay. Hernand Cortez told the Aztec embasador, "that the Spaniards were troubled with a disease of the heart, for which gold was the specific remedy." But there was never enough gold to fill the empty spaces in their hearts.

This deep and perverse psychological need continues to pervade our society to this day. I see it flickering from our TV screens. Where does it come from, this fear and rapacious hunger for more? When we begin to discover that answer, we will leave the baggage of the Dark Ages behind and begin the real journey to America.

Expeditions were the products of men and their abilities.

The scene above takes place in the Tocobaga Great House in what is now west St. Petersburg. Pictured are Narváez, Commissary Friar Juan Suarez, and Cabeza de Vaca, arguing about the direction that the expedition will take. Cabeza de Vaca wants to develop a real beachhead from which to explore the countryside. Narváez wants to take the expedition inland. Friar Juan Suarez said, "We should not embark (back on the ships) except to go along the coast in search of the harbor. Putting out to sea would be tempting God, because since leaving Castile we had experienced so many hardships, so many storms, so many losses of persons and ships before arriving here." Narváez prevailed and out of possibly 500 - 600 men and slaves who marched inland, only four would survive.

Diego Miruelo, the pilot on the Panifo de Narváez Expedition in 1528, had also slaved in Tampa Bay [Bay de Espirito Santo] sometime between 1500 and 1520. The Narváez Expedition is the first American epic. It is one of the most powerful stories you will ever read. But, like the conquistadors, what you bring to it is everything.

This site is too brief to bring you a complete story of the Spanish Conquista. We encourage you to read "The Account: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's Relacion." A recent translation by Martin Favata and Jose Fernandez, Arte Publico Press, gives the story of the Narváez expedition.

For the De Soto story, I'm going to recommend "The FLORIDA of THE INCA" by Garcilaso de la Vega. This is a second-hand account recorded in Spain by Garcilaso. The reason I suggest it, is that it's very readable. If you want to get more studious check out the "Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission," by John Swanton. It'll lead you to some other resources.

LINKS

Calderon's Company - Tim Burke has created an excellent website about the DeSoto Expedition.

De Soto National Memorial - in Bradenton, FL, where you can see interpretive displays and living history presentations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - BOOK LIST relating to 16th century Florida.