"For the Benedictines, it was a grand experiment. For the two Aboriginal boys the Catholic religious order took to Rome to train as missionaries, it was to be a great adventure. On January 8, 1849, filled with hope and eager expectation, Francis Xavier Conaci, 7, and John Baptist Dirimera, 11, left Perth with Rosendo Salvado, the energetic abbot of the Benedictine monastery at New Norcia, 160 kilometres north of Perth.
This extraordinary journey was part of Salvado's great mission, conducted over more than 50 years, to enculturate the Aborigines into Christianity. He lived and camped with them, wrote dictionaries of their language and lobbied for them with colonial authorities.
Conaci and Dirimera were from the Yuat tribe, and had begged Salvado to take them to Rome. The Benedictines hoped to train the boys in European ways and send them as missionaries to the Aborigines of Western Australia.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The Benedictines and the boys' godfather, the colonial secretary of Western Australia, Richard Robert Madden, believed that their intelligence, curiosity and adaptability made them ideal candidates to join the order.
Conaci (meaning Black Cockatoo) and Dirimera were their tribal names, Francis Xavier and John Baptist their baptismal names. They were not the first Aborigines to be taken to Rome: the year before another Benedictine took seven-year-old Benedict Upumera, the first Aboriginal boy baptised at New Norcia, but he died on the way."
Get the Story:
A boys' own adventure
(The Age 12/15)
Trending in News
1 White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
More Stories
Share this Story!
You are enjoying stories from the Indianz.Com Archive, a collection dating back to 2000. Some outgoing links may no longer work due to age.
All stories in the Indianz.Com Archive are available for publishing via Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)