CABEZA DE
VACA
112 minutes
Director: Nicolás Echevarría
Country: Mexico
Year: 1991
Language: Spanish (English subtitles)
Overview:
This film portrays the adventures of a group of Spanish
soldiers in Mexico. Their leader, Cabeza de Vaca, is considered to be one of the first Spaniards to
come to some appreciation of the indigenous people of the Americas, and
his conflicting interests provide valuable insights into the friction between
the goals of empire and the concerns of basic humanity.
Previewing Activities
- What do you know about the
conquistadores and the discovery of the “new world?”
- How were the Native
Americans treated by the Spanish?
- What Native American
traditions conflicted with the Spanish culture?
- What parts of the new
world were first discovered by the Spanish conquistadores?
Post-viewing
Activities
- How was Alvar treated by the first group of Native Americans
he was captured by?
- What happened to the
people on the captain’s raft?
- Who was Alvar’s “little brother?”
- What kinds of things did
the Spaniard say he saw while he was captured?
Class Projects
- Makes a collage of Native American
artwork and write a brief description of what some of the images
symbolize.
- Research known facts about
general Native American culture and compare it to how the “Indians” were
portrayed in this film.
How to Borrow this Video:
The videos owned by the UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin
American and Caribbean Studies are housed in the Outreach Office of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are lent free of
charge. For information on films and reservations, please visit http://isa.unc.edu/film/films_main.asp.
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