Born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Ryan’s young newlywed parents moved the family back to the Wa.xa.k’o.lin district outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma on the Osage Nation reservation. It was here where he grew to appreciate indigenous arts. Upon graduating highschool, he attended the University of Kansas, studying Visual Communications with an emphasis in Graphic Design. Before earning his bachelors degree, Ryan spent two years as the co-president of the First Nations Student Association. During that time he fulfilled internship responsibilities at Transdigital Screenworks and the House of Blues. After graduating KU in 2004 he started freelancing graphic design services from a 350 squarefoot apartment in Desoto, Kansas, and within a month founded Red Hand Media, Inc. After a few months in operation Red Hand Media founded

Demockratees.com, a line of highly acclaimed political tshirts that have been seen everywhere from the shelves of Urban Outfitters to MTV. In 2006, he moved his company from Kansas back home to the Osage reservation. In 2006, he co-founded Buffalo Nickel Industries in an effort to vertically integrate his t-shirt  operations. Today Buffalo Nickel employs six people on the Osage Reservation, screen printing for everything from Sony Music to the Inaugural Ball. Red Hand Media was named business of the year in 2008 for the American Indian Chapter of Commerce, Tulsa Chapter. After experiencing unprecedented growth over the past year Red Hand Media is closing its doors, so that Ryan can embark on a new venture, Buffalo Nickel Creative. Ryan’s activism usually follows his business. He currently sits on the boards of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce (Tulsa Chapter), and Friends of the Osage Language. He is also the current co-executive director of NVision, a native non-profit that trains Indigenous reservation youth in the media arts in the context of a drug and alcohol free lifestyle. Ryan lives and works on the Osage Reservation where he regularly attends language class and sits on his districts In.lon.shka War Dance Committee.