Moana star Auli'i Cravalho showed up on the red carpet for the premiere of Amazon Prime's new series The Power and conveyed a powerful political message encouraging support for Indigenous victims of violence.
Across Cravalho's mouth was a hand print etched in red lipstick expressing her solidarity with missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) in North America.
She spoke to ET about how her involvement in The Power brought her awareness about the issue.
"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 missing Indigenous women."
Cravalho continued:
"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."
The website for the Coalition To Stop Violence Against Native Women compiled statistics from multiple sources indicating:
"Four out of five of our Native women experienced some form of violence in their lifetime."
They also found:
"Native women face murder rates more than 10x times the national average."
Cravalho said of her empowering visual statement:
"I felt like I had to put my money where my mouth was."
Social media users praised the actress for her bold statement.
The website stated violence against Indigenous women was the result of:
"Indigenous legacy of violence against our Native women and children within New Mexico dates to the Spanish and Euro-American invasion of our Native lands and our sacred bodies."
The community-based grassroots movement was founded in an effort to raise awareness and address the lack of response when a Native woman or girl goes missing or is murdered.
The theme of female empowerment is at the heart of The Power based on the 2016 novel of the same name written by Naomi Alderman.
The show's premise is set in our world but with the exception that all teenage girls have the hereditary and inbuilt power to electrocute people at will.
They realize they can awaken older women to their inherent ability to cause harm or kill by unleashing electrical jolts from their fingertips.
Cravalho commented that the show was "groundbreakingly relevant."
She is joined by actors such as Toni Collette, John Leguizamo, and recurring stars, Josh Charles and Rob Delaney.
You can watch a trailer, here.
The Power consists of nine episodes and premieres on Friday, March 31 on Amazon Prime Video.
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