Author Bios
Spring 2008 Issue
- Donald R. Day
- Donald R. Day is President of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minnesota where he has worked for 5 years. He is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe were he grew up and continues to participate in cultural practices. He has worked in Indian higher education for many years including work as a Counselor, Director, Assistant Professor, and Administrator. He has earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate Degrees.
- Linda LeGarde Grover
- Linda is an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Department of American Indian Studies. She is a member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, a poetry and fiction writer, and a traditional dancer. Her research publications have included Ojibwe epistemology and the world of work, Indian education history, and effects of federal Indian policy on families, children and communities.
- Brian Waabishki–makwa McInnes
- Brian is a faculty member with the Department of Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth. A specialist in elementary education and language learning methods, he presently teaches courses in classroom management and assessment, Ojibwe language teaching methods and advanced narrative and conversation structures. An enrolled member of the Wasauksing First Nation, Brian has a deep interest in the preservation of Indigenous culture and languages. As a professional educator, he has worked in a number of diverse school settings in Canada, the United States and South East Asia. Brian is currently involved in the research and planning of an Indigenous language immersion school project at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
- Trevor Swoverland
- Trevor is an employee of the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he earned a Master’s degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. He and his co–authors presented their Master’s research, focused on tribal sovereignty in Indian child welfare in Minnesota, at the National Indian Child Welfare Association’s (NICWA’s) 2007 “Protecting Our Children” conference. He will be presenting at the 2008 NICWA “Protecting Our Children” conference on carrying out effective community research in Native communities. In addition to his current evaluation work in collaboration with one Minnesota Band of Ojibwe, Trevor co–wrote the report for another Band’s recent community needs assessment.
- Erin Geary
- Erin works as a Community Program Specialist for the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Through this job, Erin is part of a team conducting a program evaluation of a Minnesota Ojibwe Band’s IV–E child welfare services. Along with his co–authors, Erin presented research findings on tribal sovereignty and Indian Child Welfare in Minnesota at the 2007 National Indian Child Welfare (NICWA) Conference. He will present on ethical, community–based research in Indian communities along with Trevor Swoverland and Priscilla Day at the upcoming NICWA conference. Erin received his Bachelor’s degree in history from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth.
- Priscilla A. Day
- Priscilla A. Day, Anishinaabe, MSW, Ed.D. is a professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Department of Social Work where she has worked for 15 years. She is also the Director of the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare. She is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota where she grew up and returns often to participate in cultural activities. She is the mother of three grown children. Her research interests are American Indian families and cultural competence.
- Anne E. Tellett
- Anne E. Tellett, MSSW, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Social Work. She is also the Cultural Competence coordinator for the department. She teaches in the areas of diversity, organizational and community planning, and community field practicum’s. Her research interests include cultural competence, cross-cultural communication, racial identity development, and studying how to engage white people in social and racial justice issues.