draft manuscript - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

ely on translation from a Quechua model, a common first step in ecclesiastical text preparation
by the Maynas Jesuits (see §9.2.4). Fritz was also the longest-serving Jesuit missionary among the
Omaguas, 382 giving him ample time in which to prepare and make use of the texts. And given
his prominence in the Jesuit hierarchy of Maynas, it is very likely that the ecclesiastical texts he
developed were both archived in Santiago de la Laguna and served as the basis for the versions that
we analyze here.
With Fritz’s departure for Lagunas in 1704 to serve as Superior begins a long period characterized
of significant upheavals and dislocations for the Omaguas and the missionaries who worked with
them. Between 1710 and 1723 in particular, there was no stable Jesuit presence among the Omaguas
(see §9.1), making it unlikely that further work on ecclesiastical texts was carried out until the
successful re-establishment of San Joaquín de Omaguas in 1723 by Bernard Zurmühlen and Johannes
Baptist Julian. Since by this time the Jesuit linguistic and textual practices we describe in §9.2
were presumably well established, it is likely that they brought with them to the new settlement
copies of earlier linguistic and ecclesiastical materials produced, one assumes, by Fritz. 383
Although San Joaquín de Omaguas was stable after the mid-1720s, it was not until the arrival
of Martín Iriarte in 1748 that any missionary spent more than three years among the Omagua since
Sanna, some 40 years earlier. 384 It is clear that Iriarte spoke Omagua fluently (see §9.2.2), and
since he stayed in San Joaquín for eight years, would have had ample time to improve Omagua
ecclesiastical texts. Indeed, even if these texts had been entirely lost in the years following Fritz’s
departure (an unlikely event in any case, given the practice of maintaining copies in Santiago de la
Laguna and Quito, as well as in the principal mission site), Iriarte would probably have been able
to re-create them. Iriarte is thus the first clear candidate for a major contributor to the Omagua
ecclesiastical texts since Fritz.
Manuel Uriarte succeeded Iriarte in 1756, but the brief Omagua passages from his diaries are
heavily calqued (see Chapter 8), casting doubt on his ability to contribute to the ecclesiastical texts,
which for the most part appear to reflect considerable knowledge of Omagua grammar.
The last priest stationed in San Joaquín, Josef Palme, arrived in 1764 and stayed until the Jesuits
were entirely expelled from Maynas 1768. Little is known about Palme’s facility with Omagua, but
it is certainly conceivable that he contributed to polishing the ecclesiastical texts. Note, however,
that Palme could not have had any influence on the Catechism Fragment, since that text had been
taken by Franciscis before Palme’s arrival (see §5.1.1 and footnote 350). If Palme contributed to
what comes down to us as the Full Catechism, this may account for some minor variation between
the two texts. We conclude from this survey that some or all of the Old Omagua ecclesiastical
texts that we analyze in this volume are likely based on versions created by Samuel Fritz in the
382 Fritz worked among the Omagua between 1685 and 1704, with two long absences from Omagua mission settlements
(in addition to two journeys to Quito): 1) his trip to and subsequent imprisonment in Pará (modern-day Belém,
Brazil) from September 1689 until July 1691; 2) a stay in Lima that lasted from July 1692 until May 1693
(Edmundson 1922:24-26).
383 Fritz may have archived his work in Quito during his trips there in 1701 and 1707 (Edmundson (1922:28-29);
Anonymous ([1731]1922:107-108, 115)) or in Santiago de la Laguna in 1704, when he became Superior. Note also
that both Zurmühlen and Julian could have continued their interaction with a much smaller group of Omagua
while Superiors at Lagunas (see footnote 315), and archived any written records there.
384 Here it is important to mention the Omagua manuscripts written by Wilhelm Grebmer (see §9.2.2). Although
it is unclear whether these constituted ecclesiastical or linguistic texts, or both, they would have been based on
work with Omaguas living in Yurimaguas, where he was missionary in 1735, or at Santiago de la Laguna, where
he would have resided during his tenure as Superior from 1744 to 1748 (Jouanen 1943:722). Both Yurimaguas
and Santiago de la Laguna were highly stable settlements by this period, and Grebmer would have most certainly
archived his writings at the latter site, although this entire collection was destroyed in a fire that decimated that
parrish in 1749. However, he left his position as Superior to become Provincial in Quito, and it is possible that he
took a copy of his writings to archive in Quito just before the 1749 fire.
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