Since the U.S. release of Rabbit-Proof Fence, I've had many requests for an "Australian" opinion of the film. The film is about three young Aboriginal girls in Western Australia who were stolen from their mothers to be brought up in the white community. They manage to find their way back to their mothers by following the Rabbit-Proof Fence.

What's a rabbit-proof fence? When the British came to Australia, they brought their pet rabbits with them. Without a natural predator, the rabbits soon became prolific across the country. In the 20s, a huge fence was built across the continent. While building the fence, white men came into contact with aboriginal women. The children born from these liaisons were those taken.

The fence is an enormous umbilical cord in the film. The reason these children were born, and the link that ties them back to their mothers.

Like most Australians, I only became aware of the stolen generation in 1997, with the release of the report "Bringing Them Home." The report chronicles that as many as 100,000 Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their homes and transferred to the custody of white families between 1870 and 1970.

The report is filled with tragic stories of chronic depression, physical and sexual abuse, and the oppression of Aboriginal language and culture.

One year later, as part of recommendations from the report, the first National Sorry Day was held. It was a day meant to allow non-indigenous peoples an opportunity to express their sorrow about what had happened. Many felt the day was marred by Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to offer a formal apology.

Two years later, the matter was still fresh in many Australian minds, when Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman was selected to light the torch at the Opening ceremony of the Olympic games. Australians went wild.

Rabbit-Proof Fence doesn't get into the nasty stories of "Bringing Them Home." In fact, the film seems rather generous in portraying both sides of the story, when the ugly shameful mistreatment of children would have been so easy to isolate.

Kenneth Branaugh plays A .O. Neville, the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia. Long before Hitler, Neville had a scheme to eradicate colored skin from Australia's population. He's not portrayed as the monster he sounds.

I loved "Rabbit-Proof Fence." As one Australian--I can't speak for all 19 million of us--I feel dreadfully ashamed of this horrid part of my country's history. I am also ashamed of the way that, as kids, we were brought up in a culture that thought of Aborigines as inferior.

I now understand that Aboriginal culture is a significant part of my own heritage. Schools no longer teach that Australia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770. We all take pride that our country is home to the oldest continual civilization in the world.


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