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Emmanuel Toledo
Professor Tamora Hoskisson
History 1700
September 22, 2017
Document Assignment#1

In 1542, Alvar Nuez and his crew were captured by the Native Americans due to poor

leadership. After being captured, they were told that they must be the Natives physicians or else

they would be starved. Nunez, being a religious man, believed that God would help him bless the

Natives and their families. Being religious played a big role in the lives of Nunez and his crew

during their captivity. Due to their beliefs they could endure, cope and survive in their situation. It

shaped their lives in more ways than they expected.

During their captivity, there was a native whose family member was severely ill. Alvar was

asked to heal him. However, he quickly realized there was nothing he could do except pray to God

that he would help the man recover his health and strength. Almost immediately the man arose and

felt better. After this incident, the story of what happened spread throughout the tribe and

eventually reached the ears of the Chieftain. The chieftain was impressed with what Alvar and his

crew accomplished.

A few days later, he went to visit the same family that he helped cure. They presented him

with fruit and a bow and arrows as a way of thanking him for the service he rendered. Although

they were still captive the Natives were grateful and become interested in their religion. This

opened the window for Nunez to consider the possibility of creating a trade with the Natives. Due

to his religious belief and faith that the native would be healed helped him create rapport with the
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Natives. This helped them have hope of one day being free and benefitting from the relationship

they were creating.

Moreover, in 1647 Father Isaac Jogues, a French missionary and his fellow companions

became prisoners of war to the Huron tribe in Canada. During his captivity Father Jogues kept a

journal of their experiences. In one of his entries he wrote that he felt that he was truly in a foreign

land bearing the cross of the Lord. Throughout his captivity he witnessed the brutal deaths of many

of his companions at the hands of the Huron warriors. Whenever the Huron took prisoners of war

they would seize their valuables and become cruel and brutal with their captives.

On one occasion, they were marching to their captors camp, they were forced to walk

naked except Father Jogues who was last in line. Due to his recent beating by his captors, he would

often fall to the ground. That angered his captors and they would beat him again. After being

beaten Father Jogues would rise again and continue. When they finally arrived at the camp, the

brutality continued.

Once again, they were sent to march, under heavy guard, to another village where the

Natives were going to barter and trade with the Dutch. During this time Father Jagues remembered

the reason they had come to this foreign land in the first place. He had come to save their souls.

No longer did he care if here beaten, starved or killed, he would suffer it for their salvation. As

time went by, Father Jagues beatings worsened to the point of him becoming disfigured. Jagues

continued to praise God and had faith that he would triumph and rest from his persecution.

One day all the captives were rounded up to be tortured some more. They were struck with

rods. Father Jagues however, was approached by a Huron warrior who forced a captive Algonquin

woman to cut off his left thumb. Even at this point of excruciating pain he picked up his thumb
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and still praised his God and offered up his thumb as a token of his love. His French companions

told him to discard his thumb or the Huron warriors would make him eat it raw. He left his thumb.

Furthermore, Father Jagues and his companions were forced to stand before the Huron

Council. Father Jagues believed that they would decide to kill them. He decided to be happy with

that outcome because he would be free from his torture and torment. However, it appeared that

God had chosen to delay his martyrdom when the council decided to use them as bargaining chips

with the French. Eventually Father Jagues and his remaining companions were freed.

Moreover, in 1682, Mary Rowlandson and her family lived in a North American colony.

During this time, they were at war with the Native tribe in the area. Mary watched many of her

family members slaughtered by what she called, the heathens. She watched them burn her house

as she held her sisters children crying and pleading to God for help. Mary decided to try to escape

with one of the children but was prevented by the Natives shooting at the door. The flames were

getting fierce and she decided to go through the door regardless of the gunfire. As she tried to

escape she saw her brother-in-law fall to the floor dead. The natives grabbed her brother-in-law

and ripped his clothes as they made their war cries. One of the bullets went through Marys side

gravely injuring her and her sisters eldest son William. A native finished William off by bashing

his head in.

As Mary and her sister witnessed the slaughter of their family they wanted to die too. Mary

watched her sister get shot and prayed that her soul was received in heaven. She begged God to

allow her to die with her family. However, it was not to be as the Natives spared her and took her

with them. At first Mary thought she would rather die than be taken alive but upon seeing their

weapons she changed her mind.

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The first week of captivity she barely ate anything as she did not like their trashy food.

As time progressed her appetite changed, and she began to find their food tasty and flavorful.

During her time with the Natives she was assigned to one of the Native women. She would work

by knitting socks and clothing. However, when the Sabbath day came she would refuse to work as

it was a sacred and holy day for her. She would promise her mistress that she would work twice

as hard the following day if she could rest on the Sabbath.

Overtime, Mary often wondered why God was helping the Native people more than he was

helping her. This caused her to become bitter and to start losing her faith. Until one day, the English

Army was across the river from her camp. Due to the proximity of the English army to the tribe

they began to treat Mary better. They would give her gifts in exchange for the work she was doing.

This was all done in the hopes that Mary would be sympathetic to them and stop the army from

harming them. Eventually Mary was freed and realized that it all had to be in Gods timing not her

own. This realization made her come to terms with her capture.

In conclusion, reading these historical documents helped me realize how essential these

individuals religious beliefs were to their survival. Their faith that God would deliver them,

whether through death or freedom, helped them endure their torture. The small choices they each

made to remain hopeful and positive in their circumstances shaped their outlook on their lives.

Through these experiences we can learn how important their religious beliefs were. Many of these

events did not paint the natives in a positive light but did show that they could be merciful in

different circumstances.
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