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An indian characterized
"A
disaster never comes only. For his misery, Hans woke up with a toothache
that almost put him insane and, naturally,
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Everything this and more is that German sailor Hans Staden counts that have lived on his incredible book, published in 1557 on Europe. Hans Staden was a soldier and German adventurer, been born in Hesse, that come to stop in Brazil, between 1549 and 1550.
Brazil had been discovered only some years before, on 1500, and it still was native indians land. There were only some forts of Portuguese and of Frenchmen. Portuguese had discovered the new land, but Frenchmen also tried to assemble here a colony. It was the second trip of Hans Staden to the New World, but everything come up wrong. The ship where he was was shipwrecked and he become lost, until finding a portuguese fort on the coast where today it is the São Paulo state. He was a specialist with cannons, then Portuguese had promoted him as artilleryman of the Fort of Bertioga. After
some years, Staden already was prepared to come back to Europe,
where he would receive the recognition and gold from Portugal King
for his work. But, one day, in 1552, he counts that he left fort
for a moment to seek a vanished slave. Then, seven tupinamba indians,
portuguese enemies, had caught it. Staden was carried for sea in
their piroga, an aboriginal canoe. A festive ritual was waiting
for Staden in the village of Ubatuba, where indians intend to kill
and devore him. Between the Tupinambás, at that time, this ritual was basic for indians to be recognized as a warrior, receiving then a new name. Staden, that against all expectatives returned to his Hesse, registered his torments in the book "Viagens and adventures in Brazil" (Wahrhaftige Historia, edited in Marburg, on 1557). Book says much about his faith and his praying ahead all dangerous around him. Maybe was the faith, or the luck, but many people finded that indians in the truth had not eaten Staden because he seemed to them a fearful one, whose meat wouldn't be good to be ingested by a warrior tupinambá.
Well, fear? Who would not be with fear? Imagine to be captured in Brazil of 16 century for a indian called Nhaepepô-açu, "Panela Grande", or "Big Can". And, worse, being given after as a gift to another indian, called Ipirú-guaçu, "Tubarão Grande" or "Great Shark"!
Indian Women prepairing a dead for food To survive, Staden tried to convince indians that he was not portuguese, but French, that were allied to tupinambás. As he was very white and blonde, it worked for some time. Later, he invented that he was a kind of shaman and healer. Anyway, Staden, for his luck, become something like an "Ché remimbaba indé", or a domestic animal, that its owner, Great Shark, lead as a little dog everywhere. Staden was nine months between tupinambás. Finally, after unbelievable refuses, he was finnaly received by a captain on his boat (some had refused him before), in exchange for some merchant, and could get back to the Europe. On his book, full of drawings, he counted details of his adventure on Brazilian lands. Soon, you will read here some stretches of the history of Hans Staden on brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato beautiful version!
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