Ryan Victor Pierce or "Opalanietet" is a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribal nation of New Jersey. Upon graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Opalanietet has performed in workshops and productions at such renown New York theatrical institutions as New Dramatists, LaMaMa E.T.C. and New York City Opera at Lincoln Center. In November of 2020, Opalanietet made history by giving the first-ever Lenape Land Acknowledgement at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC.
In 2012, Opalanietet founded Eagle Project, a theater company dedicated to exploring the American identity through the performing arts and our Native American heritage, http://www.eagleprojectarts.org. Through his leadership, Eagle Project has collaborated with and performed at the Public Theater, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and Ashtar Theater in Palestine. In April of 2020, Eagle Project collaborated with the American Indian Community House of New York City and First Nations Theatre Guild to create Native Theatre Thursdays, a virtual reading series of new Native work.
Opalanietet is currently studying for his doctorate in Theatre & Performances Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, and has been a teacher of Contemporary Indigenous Theatre & Performance at The New School in New York City.