Francisco Pareja, OFM (c. 1570 – June 25, 1628)[1]: viii was a Franciscan missionary in Spanish Florida, where he was primarily assigned to Mission San Juan del Puerto.
His primary historical importance was as a linguist: he developed the first writing system for the American Indian Timucua language.
[2] According to the title page of his Arte y pronunciación en lengua timucuana y castellana, Pareja was born at Auñón in the Diocese of Toledo, Spain;[1]: vi the date of his birth is unknown.
Pareja traveled to Florida in 1595 with eleven other Franciscans assigned by the Spanish government to establish missions to the Native Americans.
[4] Pareja worked as a missionary on the east coast of the peninsula, notably at San Juan del Puerto, the doctrina (mission) established by Franciscans in 1587 at the main village of the Saturiwa chiefdom of that area.
Other sites, called visitas, were founded in more distant villages, which the resident friar would visit on Sundays and holy days.
A cacique or chief ruled the Timucuan village that was associated with San Juan del Puerto; the people spoke the Mocama dialect.
[6] 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.
[8] Pareja also worked at Mission San Pedro de Mocama on Cumberland Island (present-day Georgia), where he served the Tacatacuru, another Mocama-speaking group.
[7][10] 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.