Amazing Grace. The Devil's Throat, Iguaçu Waterfalls, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Traveling around the World in tropical regions the last few months it was once again brought home to me what terrible havoc was wreaked by Europeans on Native populations, say in Indonesia, or in New Zealand, The Samoa's, The Cook Islands, you name it. Often in the name of civilisation, of religion, of 'first-claimant' rights...
We arrived here at the Iguaçu Waterfalls and I recalled that 'The Mission' (1986, starring among others Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons) was filmed here. That film pits eighteenth century ideas of conquest against each other. The memory jolted my mind back to some reading I did back then on the role of religion and civilisation in de worldview of Conquistadores. One of these men was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (ca.1490-ca.1558). Among his many exploits after extensive travels in Indian territory of southen North America, during his governance of greater Argentina was an amazing trek from the island of Santa Catarina (Brazil) inland to Asunción, Paraguay. 1600 kms of forest hitherto unexplored by Europeans. Cabeza de Vaca and his companions took four months (November 2, 1541-March 11, 1542) to accomplish this feat. On the way, they were the first Europeans to set eyes on these Sublime Waterfalls, named after the Virgin by Cabeza.
In Paraguay Cabeza set to social reforms along christian lines. He forbade slavery, exploitation of Native peoples by each other and by Spaniards and so on. He met with fierce resistance from his compatriots, was arrested and remanded back to Spain, condemned as a danger to the state, freed and his life ended in obscurity. But as far as we know he never doubted his calling, a kind of amazing grace:
Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come.
't Was grace that brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home,
And grace will lead us home.
Here's part of those waterfalls called 'The Devil's Throat'. The weather was far less than sunny...
Incidentally, there's a recent translation into English of Cabeza's book about his North American experiences. As far as I know, the so-called Comentarios about his 'Argentine' experiences - and his sighting of these Falls - are available only in Spanish.
Amazing Grace. The Devil's Throat, Iguaçu Waterfalls, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Traveling around the World in tropical regions the last few months it was once again brought home to me what terrible havoc was wreaked by Europeans on Native populations, say in Indonesia, or in New Zealand, The Samoa's, The Cook Islands, you name it. Often in the name of civilisation, of religion, of 'first-claimant' rights...
We arrived here at the Iguaçu Waterfalls and I recalled that 'The Mission' (1986, starring among others Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons) was filmed here. That film pits eighteenth century ideas of conquest against each other. The memory jolted my mind back to some reading I did back then on the role of religion and civilisation in de worldview of Conquistadores. One of these men was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (ca.1490-ca.1558). Among his many exploits after extensive travels in Indian territory of southen North America, during his governance of greater Argentina was an amazing trek from the island of Santa Catarina (Brazil) inland to Asunción, Paraguay. 1600 kms of forest hitherto unexplored by Europeans. Cabeza de Vaca and his companions took four months (November 2, 1541-March 11, 1542) to accomplish this feat. On the way, they were the first Europeans to set eyes on these Sublime Waterfalls, named after the Virgin by Cabeza.
In Paraguay Cabeza set to social reforms along christian lines. He forbade slavery, exploitation of Native peoples by each other and by Spaniards and so on. He met with fierce resistance from his compatriots, was arrested and remanded back to Spain, condemned as a danger to the state, freed and his life ended in obscurity. But as far as we know he never doubted his calling, a kind of amazing grace:
Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come.
't Was grace that brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home,
And grace will lead us home.
Here's part of those waterfalls called 'The Devil's Throat'. The weather was far less than sunny...
Incidentally, there's a recent translation into English of Cabeza's book about his North American experiences. As far as I know, the so-called Comentarios about his 'Argentine' experiences - and his sighting of these Falls - are available only in Spanish.