D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai uses his platform to send a powerful message at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

If the Reservation dogs The 22-year-old star made her red carpet debut at TV’s biggest night on Sunday, September 15, and made a major statement. Woon-A-Tai was photographed wearing an all-black suit and with a red handprint on her mouth.

According to Native Hope’s website, the symbolic print represents a message of solidarity for missing and murdered Indigenous women. The nonprofit’s website explains that the painted hand “represents all missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It represents the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis. It represents the oppression and subjugation of Indigenous women who are now standing up and saying #NoMoreStolenSisters.”

At this year’s ceremony, Woon-A-Tai was nominated for his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Bear Smallhill in. Reserve Dogs. The Bear Star Jeremy Allen White won the award.

The FX comedy is about a group of indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma who want to get to California – and decide to do anything to get the money, even if they have to steal it. The series can be streamed on Hulu.

In an interview with diversity In April, the actor spoke about how the series taught him the importance of true representation.

“Reservation dogs taught me how important it is that we are the ones telling our stories for ourselves,” he told the outlet. “No one should be telling our stories on our behalf. It’s been going on for too long. We’ve been misrepresented too many times because of it. Going forward, I’m going to be very committed to telling Indigenous stories through an Indigenous lens.”

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Watch PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC.