Priscilla Day

priscilla Priscilla A. Day, Anishinaabe, MSW, Ed.D. is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from the Leech Lake Reservation. She is a professor in the department of social work at the University of Minnesota Duluth where she has worked for 14 years. In 2006, she became the principal investigator and director for the Center for Regional and Child Welfare Studies that offers students scholarships to train and work in the field of child welfare. She has written numerous articles on issues related to American Indian families. Recently, her book chapter, “American Indian Elders in Nursing Homes” was published in Social Work Practice with Ethnically and Racially Diverse Nursing Home Residents and Their Families, Kolb, P., Ed., Columbia Press, 2007.

Dr. Day co-created a model of diversity education called "Learning Circles" that is offered as an elective in her department of social work. She has done numerous presentations on cultural competence including indigenous cultural competence, organizational cultural competence, and working effectively with diverse groups. She is the principal investigator of a grant that is researching developmental assets in Ojibwe communities asking the question, “What does it take to raise healthy Anishinaabe children?”

Day received her MSW in 1991 from the University of Minnesota Duluth. In 1999 she received her EdD from the University of Minnesota Leadership Academy. She is the mother of three adult children.


Her recent awards include the “Significant Achievements” TRIO Award that honors those who have made significant lifetime achievements and the "Woman of Distinction" Leadership Award given by the YWCA of Duluth Minnesota to honor women who have made significant contributions to the Duluth community and region.

Day is a member of the Council of Social Work Educators and served on its Board of Directors from 2002-2005. She is a member and co-president of the American Indian Social Work Educators.

American Indian faculty at UMD are starting an on-line journal, and Dr. Day is the Editor. The inaugural edition of Bemaadizing: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Indigenous Life is expected to be available on-line in December 2007.

Two of her publications are available through the University of Minnesota Duluth Department of Social Work website:

Day, P.A. & Tellett, A. “Minnesota Anishinaabe: Nations and People-An Information and Resource Manual”. Department of Social Work, University of Minnesota-Duluth, MN, 2002. (www.d.umn.edu/sw) American Indian Projects, Anishinaabe Information and Resource Manual).

Day, PA., A Guide to Cultural Competency, Department of Social Work, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN, 1994. (www.d.umn.edu/~kheltzer) SW 8100 Social Work with Diverse Populations, On-line Resources, Department of Social Work Cultural Competence Packet