SPAN 3302
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The road to Croatan...
In the summer of 1587, 100 men, women, and children sailed from England to Roanoke Island with the intention of starting a colony. Indian tribes were so threatening to the colony that Governor John White decided to go back to England in order to reinforce the colony and avoid the massacre of the settlers. Before he left, he made them promise to leave a mark in some particular prominent spot to name their destination if they were forced to move, and to inscribe crosses as signals of distress. When John White arrived in his homeland, in 1588, England was awaiting a Spanish invasion from the Spanish “Invincible Armada,” which was the strongest navy in the world at that time. Eventually, the same year, Sir Francis Drake defeated Philip II’s alleged Invincible Armada with his small English fleet. This war delayed John White’s return for more than two years.
Finally, when John White returned to Roanoke, he saw a column of smoke, fire in the woods, and footprints in the sand, but no sign of life. The colony was rebuilt in the form of a single fortress enclosure, but it was empty. On one of the entrance posts was carved the enigmatic word “Croatan,” but without any cross of marks of distress. Did the colony move to the Croatan Islands where tribes were far friendlier than the ones in Roanoke? At Croatan, there was no sign of life either—no colonists and no Indians. The harsh weather conditions soon forced Governor White to go back to England. John White concluded that the colonists were probably dead. Some say that the colonists of Roanoke may have survived by going native.
100 years later, gray-eyed Hatteras Indians told stories of grandparents who could “talk in a book” (meaning they could read books) and referred constantly to a ghost ship called “Sir Walter Raleigh’s ship” (the ship that landed on the Roanoke coast in 1588). Stories and legends entered the American folkore regarding the fate of Governor’s John White daughter, Virgina Dare, but no single written account has been found about the fate of the Ronoake colonists. Historians have the writings of John White but do not know if the colonist went native. Many blame the fact that the colony needed supplies and did not receive the necessary support from the British crown. Also, the leader of the expedition and Governor John White were military men aiming more at creating a fortress rather than a real self-sufficient colony.
The story of Cabeza de Vaca is the main account that could lead to the understanding of the process of going native. I did not know that we had such account, and I found the story of the Ronoake colonists intriguing. The fascination does not stop here. A series of 3 movies about an English aristocrat turning native were completed in the 1960s and 1970s with Richard Harris in the main role. These three movies—“A man called Horse” in 1968, “The Return of a Man Called Horse” in 1976, and “Triumphs of a Man Called Horse” in 1983—were very popular among the hippy generation of that time and were based on the fascination of anglo-saxons turning natives.
To conclude, one could say that the story of Cabeza de Vaca will be answering a lot of questions left unanswered by American Folklore and the way it treated the story of the Ronoake colony.
2 Comments:
Nicolau-- I had not thought about relating Roanoke to CdV. This is a very interesting train of thought and one that is very suggestive. I had also forgotten about the Richard Harris movies... hm... maybe we should watch that movie in class instead of the Cabeza de Vaca movie we're going to watch next week. Anyway, excellent post. I really enjoyed reading it. Keep up the good work.
thanks for your comments.
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