When D’Pharaoh actor Woon-A-Tai walked the red carpet at the 2024 Emmys, the “Reservation Dogs” star had a red handprint painted on his mouth.

It was a memorable day for Woon-A-Tai, who received his first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Bear Smallhill on the FX series. Instead of focusing on his success, the Canadian actor of Oji-Cree origin highlighted a problem that affects Indigenous communities across North America and we stand in solidarity with missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

A red handprint is a meaningful and heartbreaking symbol for many Indigenous and indigenous communities.

In the United States and Canada, Indigenous women and girls are abducted and found murdered, sometimes without families ever receiving clear answers about what happened to their loved ones, according to Native Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the challenges and injustices faced by Native Americans.

What does the red handprint mean?

To bring the issue and injustices to the forefront, the red handprint became the symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement.

By placing a red handprint over the mouth, it represents the missing women whose voices have been silenced, as well as the silence of the media and law enforcement amid the ongoing crisis, according to Native Hope. It also signifies “the oppression and subjugation of Indigenous women who are now standing up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters,” the organization says.

Woon-A-Tai tells TODAY.com that he thought about making the statement for a “very long time” but waited until he had the biggest stage he’s ever had: the Emmy Awards.

“I had people in my family, my grandparents, suggesting I do this ever since I started acting,” says Woon-A-Tai. “I knew this was the opportunity, this was the time.”

The 23-year-old hoped to raise awareness and show “how big and important this problem is (affects) my people and those across North and South America.”

The woman who painted the palm print for the Sept. 15 event, he said, also had a relative who was found murdered, making the message even more poignant.

The experience, he says, proved a bit disappointing and both “eye-opening and not.”

He says many people in the industry “didn’t know anything” about the red footprint and the MMIW movement. “When I really broke down what that meant, I felt like not many people cared,” he says, adding that there were problems. a few who understood its meaning.

“You don’t know how people will react, or if they will care,” he said, but what mattered was “remembering that the people I’m doing it for don’t have a voice at all.” .

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women by the Numbers

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that murder is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women, according to a 2018 report on Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (MMIWG ). Urban Indian Health Institute. Additionally, he also noted that rates of violence on reservations can be up to 10 times the national average.

In 2016, the National Crime Information Center reported there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. However, the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, has recorded only 116 cases.

The MMIWG report noted that there is a lack of or outdated data and documentation, which contributes to an inaccurate understanding of the current crisis.

A National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2021 reported that 84.3% of American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls have experienced violence in their lifetime, while 56.1% have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. The report also states that AI/AN women and girls “are significantly more likely than other women to be victims of violence by interracial abusers.”

Unfortunately, these women and girls are also more likely to suffer injuries requiring medical treatment and less likely to be able to access services than non-AI/AN women.

Raising awareness on May 5 and beyond

In 2021, May 5 was proclaimed Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day by President Joe Biden.

In the proclamation, the president denounced the thousands of unsolved cases of missing and murdered Native Americans, stating: “Our failure to allocate the necessary resources and muster the necessary commitment to confront and prevent this ongoing tragedy does not bear only attack on the dignity and humanity of each missing or murdered person sends pain and shockwaves through our tribal communities.

According to National Aboriginal Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), this date is the birthday of Hanna Harris, 21, who was found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013. Due to the inadequate response from authorities, Harris’ family and friends have conducted research to find out where she was when she was first reported missing.

Since then, events such as marches, community searches and press conferences have taken place on May 5 with people committed to giving a voice to those who don’t have one. People will wear red and/or place a red handprint on their mouth.

Efforts to emerge from the crisis continue. Additional bills like The savannah act and the A non-invisible act were both passed in October 2020 to improve the response to missing and murdered Indigenous people and establish better ways to identify and report cases of human trafficking.

And just like Woon-A-Tai and countless organizations across North America, many Indigenous peoples and allies continue to fight for justice for the voiceless.