Royal Commentaries of the Incas (1609)

by Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca

This autobiography is about the hybridisation of America but it also shows the Indians in a good light from a European point of view. If Columbus and de Vaca showed the Indians as they saw them then las Casas and de la Vega try to show them as potential Europeans. This was partly because of their own cultural prejudices but also because they wanted to get the best for their Indians – not that those Indians got to voice an opinion on what was best for them. In Europe, of course, de la Vega traded on being South American royalty.