Estevanico (c. 1500–1539), also known as Mustafa Azemmouri and Esteban de Dorantes and Estevanico the Moor, was the first African and Arab person to explore North America. He was one of the last four survivors of the Narváez expedition, along with Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado.

Little is known about Estevanico's background but contemporary accounts described him as a "negro alárabe" or "black arab man" native to Azemmour, Morocco. In 1522, he was sold as a slave to the Spanish nobleman Andrés Dorantes de Carranza in the Portuguese-controlled Moroccan town of Azemmour.

Starting in 1528, he participated in the Narváez expedition, which set out from Cuba under the leadership of Pánfilo de Narváez to explore and colonize Spanish Florida. After numerous challenges, including shipwrecks and enslavement by Native Americans, Estevanico, along with three other survivors, escaped their captivity in 1534 and became medicine men. They embarked on an epic journey, covering nearly 2,000 miles, through the American interior, becoming the first Europeans and African to enter the American West. Their travels were greeted with respect and admiration from the indigenous communities, and they finally reached a Spanish settlement in Sinaloa, Mexico, in July 1536.

Their tales of rich civilizations in the north captivated Spaniards in Mexico City, leading the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, to commission Fray Marcos de Niza to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. Estevanico served as a guide for the expedition, venturing ahead of the main party with a group of Sonoran Indians and trade goods. However, tragedy struck near Cíbola when the village inhabitants attacked Estevanico, leading to his death. Several contemporary accounts describe his demise but the motivations behind the attack remain unclear.

His journey, as chronicled by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, provided insights into the peoples, wildlife, and geography of western North America.

Very little is known about the background of Estevanico. The most comprehensive description of his origins consists of just one line written by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in his Spanish account of the Narváez Expedition. Cabeza de Vaca wrote that he was a "negro alárabe, natural de Azamor", which can be translated as "an Arabized black, native to Azemmour" or "an Arabic-speaking black man, a native of Azamor". This same chronicle does not mention Estevanico's enslavement but other contemporary documents make it clear that he was owned by Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, a Spanish nobleman who participated in the expedition. Anthropologist Hsain Ilahiane argues that he was most likely an Arab Muslim.

Most contemporary accounts referred to him by his personal nicknames Estevanico, Estevan, or simply el negro (a common Spanish term, meaning "the black").^{[citation needed]} According to Patrick Charles Pautz and Rolena Adorno, "the use of the diminutive form (Estevanico) was common practice for subalterns such as slaves and interpreters, African or Indian, in the service of Castilians".

As a young man, Estevanico was sold into slavery in 1522 in the Portuguese-controlled Moroccan town of Azemmour, on the Atlantic coast. He was sold to Andrés Dorantes de Carranza. Although raised Muslim, he was baptized as a Catholic in Spain to join his master because Spain did not allow non-Catholics to travel to New Spain. His name was also changed from Mustafa to Estevan (a Spanish form of the English name, Stephen).^{[citation needed]}