The Best Three Movies of the European Discovery of America

The movie Cabeza de Vaca (1991) directed by Nicolas Echevarria tells one of the most amazing and fantastic tales of the discovery of the New World — a story that if not actually chronicled by a survivor of the expedition would be virtually unbelievable.  This movie relates the true story of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca who was an accountant of the Spanish King sent with a 600 man mission of five ships to find the Eldorado, the City of Gold in the New World.  Alvar Nunez was sent on the mission to make sure the King received his portion of the gold.  The actual events began in 1527, just about 35 years after Columbus discovered the New World.  The fleet of 5 vessels and 600 men was charged with exploring Florida for Eldorado.  Although some men deserted on Santa Domingo and in Cuba, the fleet encountered days of storms and ultimately landed Florida’s west coast with 300-400 men.  They were immediately attacked by the small roving bands of Native Americans populating the harsh, swampy Florida coast.  Many men and horses were lost.  The vegetation was thick and the heavy Spanish armor and horses were not well suited to tramping through swampy unfamiliar terrain with no landmarks or maps.  The men tramped through part of western Florida, under regular assault, losing provisions, and ultimately having to kill the horses to eat for survival.  One member of the team was a carpenter, and one thread of the tale has the survivors getting back out to sea to drift along the coast, getting pushed out in the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River and ultimately landing on or near Galveston Island, Texas.  After attacks, disease, starvation, only 4 men survived, including Alvar Nunez.  They were quickly captured by Indians in Texas and lived in part as slaves, but at some point they were welcomed as saviors and passed as demi-gods from tribe to tribe through the Southwest, and ultimately reaching Spanish settlements in lower California or Northern Mexico.  The movie contains many inaccuracies, and it is recommended to read an account of the journey before watching the movie, but the movie is still spectacular in that it catches that brief moment in time of early Spanish entry into the New World when large swaths of the southern U.S. were unexplored and the major movements of Indian tribes had not yet begun.

The second movie is Black Robe (1991) directed by Bruce Beresford based on the novel of the same name.  This movie is set in eastern Canada in the 1600’s when the French Jesuits and other French explorers first began exploring the interior of Canada and northern New England and their encounters with the Algonquin and Huron Indians.  The plot is about a Jesuit missionary guided by Algonquin guides to a Huron village, but the missionary and his small party are captured by the Iroquios from whom they escape, but the magic of the movie is not just its riveting pace and stunning scenery of the pristine land, but how is shows how distant the Indian and European cultures were.  In one scene, the priest demonstrates the French written language by writing down for an Indian what he said.  Then they walk a hundred yards and have another European read the Indian’s words back to the Indian, and the Indian said that this writing was some kind of magic.  

The final movie is Dances With Wolves (1990) directed by Kevin Costner and starring Kevin Costner, which won seven Academy Awards and a Golden Globe for Best Drama Movie.  It is more Hollywood than the first two movies, but the production values are much higher, and the story is one of great pathos depicting the fate of a band of Lakota Sioux Indians who lose their land and way of life after the Civil War as European migration spreads westward.  It is a tale of the end of the frontier whereas the other two movies are a tale of the beginning of the frontier.  The plot is that of a Civil War hero who given his choice of posting selects the western frontier at Fort Sedgwick, and is the only soldier stationed at the deserted fort.  Through saving a white woman who is an Indian slave of the Sioux, Costner is befriended by the Sioux who is drawn to their lifestyle and customs, and becomes a hero and guest of the tribe. Ultimately, Costner is accused of being a traitor to the army, is captured, and is being transported to another fort for execution, when the Sioux attack and kill the guards taking Costner to the fort.  Costner realizes that he will be a target for the army, and accepts that he must leave the Sioux tribe and talk to “those who will listen.”  The movie stands as a compelling and tragic story of the end of the Indian way of life and the end of the frontier and freedom.