Kanehsatake Mohawk Territory, 1996

Eight-year-old Ivy looks up to Heather, her sixteen-year-old sister. With her mom having to work long hours to provide for them, Heather is often the one who makes Ivy’s lunches, brushes her hair and helps out with homework. That’s probably why Ivy immediately knew something was wrong when she was left stranded waiting for Heather on the front steps of school. Heather always waited for her younger sibling. So why, on this sunny day, would Heather not show?

As the hours pass, Ivy and Heather’s mother Susan begin to worry. Apprehension turns to fear when no one in the community – not even Heather’s closest friends Courtney or Goof – know of her whereabouts. That night Ivy wakes up from her recurring nightmare, to find her mother filing a missing person’s report with a police officer. The officer concludes that this is just another teen runaway and tries to reassure Susan that Heather will most likely come back home within a day or two.

After many days without a sign, the tightknit community comes together to conduct its own search party. During this event, Ivy and Susan stumble upon a clue that will force them to hit the road and continue the search for Heather beyond their community.

This unwelcomed journey brings them to unfamiliar places, both physically and emotionally. As both women scour the countless kilometers, Ivy begins to shed the innocence of youth. Her nightmares, more and more frequent as their search progresses, start to reveal the family’s dark past. Ivy’s dreams and visions intertwine with reality and eventually help move the search for Heather forward.

Rustic Oracle is a feature drama about a missing Indigenous teen, seen through the eyes of her eight-year-old sister. As the story unfolds, Ivy witnesses her mother’s growing despair as they search to no avail. Their search for answers is one that no family should have to go through. Nevertheless, their shared fear, pain and hope bring them closer together. This is much more than a story of loss. It is a story about a daughter and mother learning how to love and care for each other under tragic circumstances.