A Spanish expedition kidnapped a young Native American from the coast of Virginia in 1561. He was the local chief’s son, and the Spaniards called him Paquiquino. They took him to Spain, where he met the King and was given permission to go home.
Instead of taking him straight back to the Chesapeake, the Spaniards took the young man to Mexico City, just a few decades after the fall of the Aztec Empire. While there, the young Native American fell ill and converted to Christianity, taking the name Don Luis de Velasco.
He was finally on his way home in 1566-five years after first leaving-when the ship couldn’t find the Chesapeake. They ended up back in Spain.
Paquiquino eventually made it to Cuba to serve as a guide for another attempt at a Chesapeake colony. They went without military personnel because the expedition leader, a priest, felt they’d have better success at converting the natives without their unpredictable, often deplorable, behavior.
Nine years after he first left, Paquiquino left the fledgling colony at the first chance he got. Then, opposed to colonization, he came back with his fellow tribesman and killed the Spaniards.
Turning this into a story, we could introduce a love interest within the Chesapeake tribe. The young man and woman spend a lot of time together as friends, with everyone understanding that they would end up together.
Since the young man is the chief’s son, it’s expected he’ll take over from his father, and the girl is accepted as the future queen-figure.
The tribe’s expected future gets thrown into disarray when the young man is kidnapped. We essentially have Homer’s Odyssey, as the young Native American does all he can to make his way back to his love.
The story highlights his time in Spain and meeting the King, and a large bulk of the middle takes place in Mexico City among the Aztecs. We watch as he realizes the low station the indigenous population occupies in Mexico City, and the hero converts to Christianity to stay in the Spaniard’s good graces.
Since there’s some ambiguity about where Paquiquino went after the first attempt at a Chesapeake colony, we can say that the Spaniards took him to Cuba, where he spent another few years working for the church. This is the visit to death.
While there, he convinces the church leader in Cuba to start a colony without the military, kicking his plan into action. They eventually make their way to the Chesapeake region, where he leaves the Spaniards behind.
The battle takes place when Paquiquino gets his fellow tribesmen and they attack the settlement, leaving nobody alive. After seeing what happened to the Aztec Empire, they believe they prevented themselves from suffering the same fate.
Unfortunately, his love interest is already married and has children. So instead of disrupting her life, Paquiquino leaves the tribe behind and makes his way into the country’s interior alone.
