Auli'i Cravalho made a bold statement in support of Indigenous women's rights at a recent movie premiere this week.
The Native Hawaiian actress - who starred as Moana in the wildly successful Walt Disney movie of the same name - had been on the red carpet to see a showing of her new show The Power, which follows a group of teenage girls who develop mysterious powers of electrocution.
Cravalho, 22, was snapped in a stunning white floor-length Naeem Khan gown, complete with intricate emerald green and royal blue beading.
However, it was the bright red lipstick handprint across her lower face that captured the attention of news outlets and fashion blogs - especially when the message behind it was revealed.
The red handprint is a symbol typically associated with supporting missing and murdered Indigenous women across the United States and Canada.
According to Amnesty International Canada, Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience violence and six times more likely to be murdered than any other woman or girl in the region. The global human rights group also adds that this number is so high due to racist and sexist stereotypes against Indigenous people and specifically Indigenous women - especially given that perpertrators of violence against them often get away with their crimes.
Native Hope - an organization aiming to address the constant injustices suffered by Native Americans - has explained that the red hand symbol "stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis. It stands for the oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters."
"I'm grateful to wear Naeem Khan as a dress, and I'm also representing No More Stolen sisters, and bringing light to murdered and Indigenous women," Cravalho told Entertainment Tonight reporters at the event. "We were lucky enough to be filming in Vancouver for The Power, and I saw many a monument about it, and I'm so grateful to be working on a film based on female empowerment."
"I felt like I had to put my money where my mouth was," she added.
As for The Power, Cravalho is excited for fans to view it, calling it "groundbreaking."
Speaking at the event, she told the press: "For me, watching this and creating this project really made me wish that I had the power. I didn't realize how often I acted or didn't act due to internalized fear of not being strong enough. And I think that the power really does change everything. It's groundbreaking."