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Figure 76: A vegetable garden in Wittenoom. Photo courtesy Lea Guagnin.
Figure 77: A chicken coup belonging to neighbours of the Guagnins. Photo
courtesy Lea Guagnin.
172
Figure 78: The grotto. Photo courtesy Lina
Tagliaferri.
Figure 79: A bird house to attract local bird
life. Photo courtesy Lina Tagliaferri.
173
Figure 80: Altar of Corpus Christi Catholic Church 1957. Photo courtesy
Lea Guagnin.
Figure 81: Wittenoom Catholic church one of the few remaining buildings in
September 2010.
174
Figure 82: The Catholic convent September 2010.
Figure 83: Internal view of the church in 2010. The altar in figure 80 is in the
background of this photo.
175
Cecilia Bonomi did not mince words when she described her treatment during the birth of her
first child, Andrew: “perchè il dottore capiva un corno… Quello lì` andava bene con le vacche
…..non con le donne.”
50
Yet she had nothing but praise for the hospital matron, Mrs
Kempton, a French speaker who made regular home visits, once Cecilia had gone home with
her new baby.
51
Cecilia Bonomi recalled instances of babies dying. Living on the main road
of the town, she witnessed many funerals: “You always saw them… passing by… They were
taking them to the cemetery… babies”. (see figure 84, Extract of Wittenoom General
Cemetery lists) For the birth of her second and third sons, Cecilia went to Perth where she
was hosted by another ex-Wittenoom Italian, Mrs Panizza, from the Trentino Alto Adige (see
figure 85). They had become friends in Wittenoom; it was a friendship which lasted till Mrs
Panizza’s death.
52
Giving birth in the Wittenoom hospital was at odds with the women’s experiences of
childbirth in Italy, which occurred in the home. Lina Tagliaferri, in the final hours before the
birth of her son, Carlo, remembers being left in her Wittenoom hospital room with windows
wide open and not being allowed to change into warmer clothing. She could do that once she
had given birth, she had been told by the doctor. Lina was annoyed at the doctor’s lack of
sympathy. The nurse had also failed to notice Lina was cold when later that night she came
in to inquire about her rate of contractions. Lina reported she had no more pain. The nurse’s
reply that the doctor had said the baby would be born that night prompted Lina’s reaction:
“Not in tis [this] room!” When asked why she replied: “Because it’s like a fridge! Look at my
foot”! The nurse responded: “Ah, you want a blanket”? By then it was 10 p.m., two hours
after the doctor’s earlier visit. At 11.30 p.m., a healthy baby boy was born (see figure 86).
The cultural differences continued the next morning. Lina refused the boiled eggs she
was brought for breakfast and was offered no alternative. In Italy, as Lina explained to me,
for a month after child birth a woman avoided heavy meals.
53
Lina’s limited English and the
doctor and nurse’s lack of Italian and their apparent lack of understanding of the cultural
50
Because the doctor didn’t understand a thing… He was better suited to work with cows…..not with
women!
51
Cecilia Bonomi was a fluent French-speaker, having spent time in France, as a child. Mrs
Kempton’s grandfather was French.
52
Interview with Cecilia Bonomi, Bullsbrook, October 2009.
53
Interview with Lina Tagliaferri, Perth, November 2008.
176
differences associated with childbirth practices created misunderstandings in what was an
already emotionally-charged experience.
After the birth of their children, Italian parents then celebrated religious rituals
important in their culture: Baptisms, First Communions and Confirmations (see figures 87 &
88). Rosa Tamburri is but one example of the cross-cultural bonds which developed between
Wittenoom neighbours of different ethnic backgrounds: she was asked to be the godmother
to the daughter of her neighbours — a German/French couple (see figure 89). The traditional
white outfits worn by both girls and boys for these rituals had often been sent by family in
Italy or Perth. Many of these special occasions were celebrated with a party; with neighbours
of all nationalities in attendance. Birthday parties for children, 21
st
celebrations for the adults
and other festive occasions such as farewell parties for departing workers were common
occurrences (see figure 90).
Marriages also figured in the women’s stories. Several Italian women became
sistemate, in its strictest sense, once they married.
54
Cecilia Bonomi told me that her
marriage to Mario Bonomi, in 1953, was the first in Wittenoom, celebrated in the state school,
as the Catholic Church had not yet been built (see figure 91). Cecilia had, in fact, married
Mario by proxy before her departure for Wittenoom. Marriage by proxy was generally used as
a means by single Italian men who had emigrated but looked back home to find a suitable
wife. In contrast to one report of government findings, proxy marriages were not necessarily
confined to southern Italians who came to Australia.
55
Cecilia Bonomi and her husband were
both northern Italians: she from Friuli Venezia Giulia and her husband from Lombardy.
Wittenoom became a meeting place for the young single Italian men and the few
single Italian women who went there, chaperoned by their male siblings. One man jokingly
quipped that female attention was eagerly sought by the men, even if the woman was
married.
56
54
Marriage is the first way an Italian achieved sistemazione. When I was growing up in the 1960s and
1970s, I recall that anyone in my family considered old enough to marry would be asked “
Allora,
quando ti sistemi?” Well, when are you going to settle down?
55
Vasta, Op Cit. p.144.
56
RAI TV documentary on Italians in Western Australia, (c. 2008). Viewed thanks to teacher of Italian,
Vicky Melia, Servite College, Tuart Hill, September 2010. At the Siderno restaurant in Osborne Park,
177
my waitress, Anna Argese, had told me that she had viewed the Italian TV documentary during her
year 12 Italian class at Servite College.
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