“D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai made a symbolic statement on the Emmys red carpet (Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images) D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai took to the Emmys 2024 red carpet on Sunday evening with a symbolic statement. The Reservation Dogs actor, 22, painted a red handprint over his mouth to show solidarity with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement”, — write: metro.co.uk
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai made a symbolic statement on the Emmys red carpet (Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai took to the Emmys 2024 red carpet on Sunday evening with a symbolic statement.
The Reservation Dogs actor, 22, painted a red handprint over his mouth to show solidarity with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
According to Native Hope, the MMIW red hand stands for ‘all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard’.
The explanation continues saying it ‘stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis’ and for ‘the oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up’.
The US National Crime Information Centre reports that in 2016 5,712 cases of missing and murdered indigenous people were reported, but only 116 of them were logged in the Department of Justice database.
Taking to the red carpet, D’Pharaoh wore an all-black suit and bow tie with the bloodied hand mark over his mouth, with the fingers stretching onto his upper cheek bones.
He dressed all in black save a red hand print over his mouth (Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
The symbol shows solidarity with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement (Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)D’Pharaoh, who is of Oji-Cree descent, became the first Indigenous actor ever to be recognised in the Emmy’s leading actor category.
He was nominated for outstanding actor for his role as Bear Smallhill in comedy-drama series Reservation Dogs, which has an all-Indigenous writing team.
Fans heaped praise on him via social media as he posed for pictures wearing the symbol, as @bree_eze said: ‘Being the first indigenous actor nominated in a leading actor category and wearing a bloody handprint across your mouth is an incredible statement to make.’
‘A powerful statement for a long overdue cause. Thank you for speaking out, D’Pharaoh!’ wrote @Loly_lips_.
He played Bear in Reservation Dogs (Picture: FX Networks/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)@littlemsmaddy referred noted the subtlety of normal red carpet campaigns, and praised D’Pharaoh for his being so prominent.
‘The red handprint stands for something so important. It’s also bigger than a pin or a ribbon. It’s also right there where you can’t ignore it,’ they said.
The actor has spoken out in the past about the need for Indigenous people to tell their own stories on film and TV.
Co-created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the critically acclaimed show Reservation Dogs – which has now wrapped up after its final season – followed the daily life of a group of Native teens living just outside a reservation in Oklahoma, who are struggling in the aftermath of their friend’s death.
‘I think we’re pushing to a time when we don’t need anybody to tell our story for us,’ he previously told Elle Magazine.
‘Reservation Dogs was the first show of its kind regarding Indigenous representation, Indigenous comedy,’ he added.
