Francisco Pareja (c. 1570 – January 25, 1628) was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

missionary in

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...

, where he was primarily assigned to

San Juan del Puerto San Juan del Puerto, Spain is a municipality located in the province of Huelva, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Lat ...

. The Spaniard became a spokesman for the Franciscan community to the Spanish and colonial governments, was a leader among the missionaries, and served as ''custodio'' for the community in Florida. After the Franciscan organization was promoted to a ''provincia'' (province), Pareja was elected by his fellow missionaries as provincial in 1616. His primary historical importance was as a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

: he developed the first writing system for the American Indian

Timucua language Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the ...

. In 1612 he published the first book in an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

language of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a catechism in Spanish and Timucua. From 1612 to 1627, he published eight other works in Spanish and Timucua, for the use of his teaching brothers; six of his works survive. He taught Timucuans to read and write within six months. The first church in what is now the United States was founded in St. Augustine, Fla., by Fray Francisco de Pareja in 1560, - but there were many Spanish churches in America a half century earlier yet.

Early life

Pareja was probably born at Auñón in the Diocese of Toledo,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

; the date of his birth is unknown. He would have studied at a school and seminary there.

Career

Pareja traveled to Florida in 1595 with eleven other Franciscans assigned by the Spanish government to establish missions to the Native Americans. It was the third Spanish effort to establish missions. The brothers were following earlier unsuccessful efforts by Jesuit missionaries, one of whom had been martyred; the others returned to Spain. A group of 13 Franciscans arrived at St. Augustine in 1587. Within five years, most of the Franciscans had become discouraged by their lack of progress and left. Pareja worked as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

on the east coast of the peninsula, notably at

, the ''doctrina'' (mission) established by Franciscans in 1587 at the main village of the

Saturiwa The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered on the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of ...

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

of that area. The people had intensive agriculture, hunting and fishing, and developed government. The Franciscans developed a multi-tier organization, with a ''doctrina'' as the base where a resident friar taught Christianity. Other sites, called ''visitas,'' were founded in more distant villages, which the resident friar would visit on Sundays and holy days. The total group of friars associated with a doctrina was called a ''custodia'' and led by one of them, called a ''custodio.'' By 1602 the San Juan del Puerto ''doctrina'' had set up nine associated ''visitas.'' Pareja's ''doctrina'' was on present-day

Fort George Island A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

near the mouth of the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

in what is now

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. A ''cacique'' or chief ruled the Timucuan village that was associated with San Juan del Puerto; the people spoke the

Mocama The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their t ...

dialect. In 1603 a Saturiwa whom the Spanish named Maria was ''cacica;'' the following year she told the Spanish that her people were pleased with Father Pareja. She may have ruled into the 1620s.Stowell (1996), p. 14 Pareja achieved some success with the Saturiwa; in 1602 he had 500 Christians within his custodio. Nearly that number were confirmed during a visit in 1606 by Bishop Altamirano, including Cacica Maria and five of her subordinate caciques from the area.Stowell (1996), p. 15

Developing written Timucuan

In his most significant achievement, Pareja developed a form of written language for Timucua. His

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

in Spanish and Timucua, published in 1612, was the first book written in an indigenous language of the United States.Jerald T. Milanich and William C. Sturtevant, ''Francisco Pareja's 1613 'Confessionario:' A Documentary Source for Timucuan Ethnography'' (Tallahassee, Florida: Division of Archives, History and Records Management, 1972) Through 1627, he published several other works in both languages.Daniel Stowell, (October 1996). ''Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve: Historic Resource Study''
National Park Service, pp. 16-17, accessed 12 May 2010 Due to his books and teachings, both Timucuan men and women learned to read and write in less than six months. They were able to write letters to each other in their own language.Luis Gerónimo de Oré, ''Martyrs of Florida'', p. 103 His works were distributed to other Franciscans and enabled them to teach literacy and Christianity to the Timucua. Since the twentieth century, his work has also been studied for insights into the ethnography of the indigenous people. Pareja also worked at Mission

San Pedro de Mocama Mission San Pedro de Mocama was a Spanish colonial Franciscan mission on Cumberland Island, on the coast of the present-day U.S. state of Georgia, from the late 16th century through the mid-17th century. It was built to serve the Tacatacuru, a M ...

Cumberland Island Cumberland Island, in the southeastern United States, is the largest of the Sea Islands of Georgia. The long-staple Sea Island cotton was first grown here by a local family, the Millers, who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. With its ...

(present-day

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

), where he served the

Tacatacuru Tacatacuru was a Timucua chiefdom located on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was one of two chiefdoms of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timuc ...

, another Mocama-speaking group. He was there at the time of the

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th ...

revolt in 1597. He later became guardian, or an officer, of the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

of the Immaculate Conception at St. Augustine. From 1609-1612 he served as custodio of the Franciscans in Florida. When the Franciscan church organization in Florida and Cuba was elevated to the rank of a province (''provincia''), named ''Santa Elena de Florida,'' Pareja was elected as provincial in 1616 by his fellow Franciscans."Francisco Pareja"
''Catholic Encyclopedia'', New York: Robert Appleton Co., 1911, accessed 12 May 2010 Seeking more financial support of the Franciscans, he wrote to the colonial government, which seemed to favor soldiers: "we are the ones who bear the burden and heats, and we are the ones subduing and conquering the land."Luis Gerónimo de Oré, ''Martyrs of Florida'', pp. 107-108, 131-132 The last contemporary record of him was a fellow Franciscan's reference to his work in Florida in the book published in 1627. In his last posting, Pareja joined the province of the Holy Gospel in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He died in Mexico in 1628.

Works

Pareja is noted for having published the first books in the language of an indigenous tribe (the

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...

) within the present-day United States. He published several works between 1612 and 1627 in Timucua and Spanish, although some have been lost. His surviving works are: *''Catecismo En lengua Castellana y Timuquana'' (Mexico, 1612) *''Catecismo y Breve Exposición de la Doctrina Cristiana''" (Mexico, 1612) *''Confessionario En lengua Castellana y Timuquana Con algunos consejos para animar al penitente'' (Mexico, 1613) *''Gramatica de la lengua Timuquana de Florida'' (Mexico, 1614) *''Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristiana En lengua Timuquana'' (Mexico, 1627) *''Catecismo y Examen para los que Comulgan, En lengua Castellana y Timuquana'' (Mexico, 1627) In addition, he was known to have published two other religious works and compiled a dictionary, which did not survive.

References

Sources

*Amy Turner Bushnell, ''Situado and Sabana: Spain's Support System for the Presidio and Mission Provinces of Florida,'' New York: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 1994 *Michael V. Gannon, ''Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in Florida, 1513-1870,'' Gainesville, Florida: University Presses of Florida, 1965 *Eugene Lyon, ''The Enterprise of Florida: Pedro Menéndez de Áviles and the Spanish Conquest of 1565-1568,'' Gainesville, Florida: University Presses of Florida, 1976

External links

"Francisco Pareja"
''Catholic Encyclopedia'', New York: Robert Appleton Co., 1911 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pareja, Francisco 1628 deaths 17th-century Spanish people People of Spanish Florida Spanish Franciscans Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Linguists from Spain Timucua Native American literature Year of birth uncertain Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain Franciscan missionaries Missionary linguists