ABSTRACT
There are several first contact narratives between European explorers and indigenous Americans. There are also many Jesuit and Franciscan reports, governmental documents, and other writings that describe European encounters with indigenous foods. Among these racist and condescending narratives is the feeling that these "savages" and "barbarians" have lots of foods. The bounty served Cabeza de Vaca and his companions in what today is northeast Mexico were the result of a millennia of indigenous stewardship of their landscapes. Foods such as desert hackberry, pinon nuts, and the agave hearts would have been wildcrafted from lands that were managed like huge gardens. Humans contemplate their landscape then attempt to express what is seen. The expressions rely on cultural models that embody unique representations of place and relationships. The representations are verbally expressed in metaphors and prototypes, and non-verbally expressed in mental spaces of the local environment.
