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D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai has delivered an important message at the 2024 Emmys.
He Reserve dogs The actor walked the red carpet at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, held on Sunday, September 15, in Los Angeles, California. For the occasion, he wore an Emporio Armani tuxedo, Thundercloud jewelry, and a red handprint over his mouth, a symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement.
According to Native Hope, the red handprint “represents all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It represents the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis.” The site added that it symbolizes “the oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters.”
The organization was created to address injustices that abound in indigenous communities; a 2019 report from the Department of Justice found that women on reservations are 10 times more likely to be murdered, in stark contrast to the national average.
Woon-A-Tai, who identifies as a member of the Oji-Cree First Nations and Guyanese, received his first Emmy nomination for his role as Bear Smallhill in Reserve dogs –Hulu’s highly acclaimed comedy-drama came to an end after its fourth season.
In an interview withThe Hollywood ReporterWoon-A-Tai recalled how he connected with his character from his first audition. “The writers’ room was all Indigenous and they knew they wanted to tell their stories and in telling their own stories they were also telling the stories of many other Indigenous children, including myself,” the actor said. “I identified with Bear from the beginning and I see a lot of similarities within myself, my cousins and my nephews, and my family and friends.”
He continued: “There are definitely a lot of bears in the world and in what we call Indian Country, just like there are Willie Jacks everywhere or Elora Danans or Cheeses everywhere.”
Meanwhile, the actor said She who is proud to be part of a generation of Native American creatives who are going above and beyond and taking the initiative to create stories about and for their communities.
“I think we’re getting to a point where we don’t need anyone to tell our story for us,” she said in May. “If you want to do a story about Indigenous people, it should definitely be mandatory, in my opinion, to have an Indigenous director, an Indigenous screenwriter and an Indigenous casting director.”
The three-hour ceremony will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. ET (midnight GMT). The live broadcast will air on ABC, while the show can be watched the following day on Hulu. Father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy will host the awards ceremony.
