Yancey Red Corn is a citizen of the Osage Nation and a cultural steward deeply rooted in his heritage. Raised in the traditions of his people, he learned the old ways from his father, Charles H. Red Corn — a celebrated novelist and tribal statesman, best known for his novel A Pipe for February and for co-authoring the Osage Nation Constitution. His mother, Jeri Red Corn, a National Treasure and 2022 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, singlehandedly revived the lost Caddo pottery tradition. Through her Potawatomi ancestry, Yancey is also related to Olympian Jim Thorpe.
Yancey portrayed Chief Arthur Bonnicastle, a decorated war hero and Osage Nation leader of the 1920s, in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese selected Yancey to join him on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, a rare honor. In scenes opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, and Jesse Plemons, Yancey brought depth and authenticity to his role. At the film’s premiere, Scorsese expressed hopes to adapt Charles Red Corn’s A Pipe for February into a future project.
A member of SAG-AFTRA, Yancey is now producing and co-writing adaptations of A Pipe for February across audio, stage, film, and television. He leads a creative team that includes his mother, his sister Dr. Moira Red Corn, and his son, Miles Thorpe Red Corn. Yancey and his sister have finished professionally recording the audiobook for A Pipe for February which includes a forward recorded by Martin Scorsese himself. The audiobook will be released in May of 2025.
Yancey also appeared in FX’s Reservation Dogs (Season 3, Episode 10) as Preacher Paul, and recently wrapped filming on the upcoming feature The Huntsman (due summer 2025) and the short film Redbird (2025). His stage work includes a standout performance as Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (OKC Theatre Company, 2012) — a transformative experience that prepared him for the demands of film acting.
A hereditary Name Giver of the Osage Tzi-Zhu-Wah-Schtah-Gi (Peace Maker Clan), Yancey received this sacred calling from his father, who was granted the right by Wakon Iron (George Red Corn), younger brother of Yancey’s great-grandfather Raymond Red Corn Sr., a victim of the Osage Reign of Terror. Yancey has participated in the Osage I’n-Lon-Schka ceremonial dances every year since 1966.
In 2001, Yancey co-founded the White Buffalo Alliance, an intertribal cooperative, with his father. He now serves as its CEO, leading initiatives that combine cultural preservation with technological innovation. Under his leadership, the cooperative is testing digital dollar technologies in collaboration with the SEC and Federal Reserve. These efforts aim to protect Indigenous identity and art, and to deliver secure financial systems for underserved communities — including victims of domestic violence, the unhoused, and the unbanked.
White Buffalo Alliance is building an “Internet of Trust” by integrating global distributed ledger technologies to combat corruption and preserve privacy. A majority of the INTR ecosystem’s proceeds support the poor and environmental causes.
Yancey brings over 30 years of experience in investment, business development, and strategic partnerships. In the 1990s, he became a leading advocate for Indian oil and gas royalty owners, helping recover millions of dollars in lost royalties through audits and negotiations with U.S. agencies and oil companies. His advocacy led to an invitation to speak at the U.S. Senate in 1992.
With a lifetime of connections among tribal leaders and governmental officials, Yancey has helped bridge the gap between tribal governance and private sector partnerships. His expertise spans federal, state, local, and tribal systems, and he has lobbied effectively on Capitol Hill.
Yancey earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma, where he also played for the OU Rugby Team. He later continued his education in Federal Indian Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
