Pioneering Contributions
E. Daniel Edwards, DSW, has had a huge impact on social work services for American Indian/Alaska Native Peoples. He changed the face of social work practice in many communities, first through direct practice, then as an educator and leader, and finally as an Elder. He extended his patient and gentle guidance and mentorship to encourage, inspire, and support Native and non-Native students to be part of his vision of culturally relevant and impactful services for American Indian people and communities. With wisdom, compassion, and self-deprecating humor, Dr. Edwards’ influence on social work has been transformative.
Edwards founded, then developed and directed the American Indian Social Work Career Training Program (known as the AI Program) at the University of Utah (UU). Edwards’s wife Marge was instrumental in helping develop this program. The AI Program was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and focused on recruiting and training American Indians and Alaska Natives for social work careers at the MSW level. This program graduated over 300 American Indian MSW social workers over four decades. By the time he retired in 2012, graduates of the AI Program comprised nearly one-fourth of all Native American MSWs in the United States. Many others earned bachelor’s degrees and benefitted from his mentorship and guidance.
It is noteworthy that Edwards’ influence wasn’t limited to the Native students. He taught and mentored many non-Native social work students who would go on to provide meaningful services throughout Indian Country and in Washington DC. Edwards also encouraged numerous students to pursue doctorate degrees in social work, inspiring them to conduct culturally sensitive and responsive research to help American Indian Peoples, and to teach upcoming generations of social workers. Additionally, Edwards helped facilitate the admission of the first Pacific Islander in the program, Dr. Halaevalu Fonongava'inga Ofahengaue Vakalahi, who later became the first Indigenous President/CEO of the Council on Social Work Education.
The AI Program drew Native American students from all over the country. While fully integrated into all aspects of the MSW program, they also received additional academic, social, cultural, and other support. As noted previously, much of Edwards’ work was done in partnership with his wife Dr. Marge Edwards. They recruited students, administered the program, and provided a warm and welcoming environment. Some students experienced considerable cultural shock moving alone from small reservation towns in other states. The AI Program helped them acculturate successfully to this new environment, manage the expectations of graduate school, and develop the courage to form friendships with others, including non-Natives.
Edwards mentored and supported many American Indian faculty as well as students. He was a consistent presence at national social work meetings from the 1970s to the early 2000s. As a founding member of what would later become the Indigenous and Tribal Social Work Educators’ Association, he was a guiding force for many social work academics teaching today, including the first Indigenous board chair and first Indigenous President/CEO of CSWE.
Career Highlights
Edwards earned his MSW in 1965 then worked as a child welfare worker in the Bay Area for 18 months before returning to Utah to work with VISTA. When VISTA relocated to Maryland, he took a job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska. Edwards spent nearly two years in this job and then returned to Utah where he worked briefly as a gerontologist at the state hospital. In 1970, Edwards began work at a new program, the Western Region Indian Alcoholism Training Program.
In the 1970s, Edwards completed his own education and started the AI Program, both at the University of Utah. Edwards and Marge also established an American Indian Social Work Association. Edwards recognized that the reservations needed leadership. Frequently, returning MSW graduates proved more capable than administrators on the reservations, thus, many program graduates went from clinical practice to administration or political careers in tribal government. In addition to the early cohorts’ successes, there were other gains. Edwards’ experiences with higher education reenforced his desire to share evidence of the importance of education with American Indian tribal organizations and American Indian students at the university and throughout the nation. He retired in 2012 having created a supportive social work program that nurtured many Native social work students. He changed the profession, American Indian communities, and other social workers as well.
Biographic Information
Daniel Edwards is an enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe in Northern California, lived his early life on the reservation then attended a boarding school. He earned his BA at Brigham Young University (BYU) as part of a cohort of 48 American Indian students. He earned his MSW in 1965 and DSW in 1976 from the University of Utah (UU).
After 38 years of teaching at UU, Edwards retired in 2012 and became Professor Emeritus where he remains active with the school and the American Indian Ethnic Studies program. He is married to his longtime collaborator, Dr. Marge Edwards, and they have three children, five grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
Significant Achievements and Awards
Among Edwards’ many awards are: 2022, University of Utah Distinguished Service Award (with Marge); 2015, publication in his honor: Barkdull, C., Ned, D., Limb, G., Weaver, H.N. & Himonas, L. “Edwards Was There for Us.” Honoring Our Indigenous Elders in Social Work Education, special issue of Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 21(2), 68-74. PDF; 2013, inaugural Honoring Our Elders award, American Indian Alaska Native Social Work Educators Association; 2012, Calven S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Prize for Excellence in Teaching, University of Utah; 2012, Dean’s Medal College of Social Work, University of Utah; 2008, Outstanding Contributions to American Indian People and Communities, Utah State Department of Human Services & Division of Substance Abuse & Mental Health;
2008, Outstanding Service Award to American Indian Communities & Students, Utah Division of Indian Affairs and Utah Department of Community & Economic Development; 2005, first American Indian to give the Carl Scott Memorial lecture at the CSWE APM; 2002, Outstanding Service to the Healthy Nations (American Indian) Initiative, Robert Wood Johnson; 1995, Service Award, Academy of Certified Social Workers Examination Review Committee;1994 Utah NASW Chapter “Social Worker of the Year” Award; and the 1985 Outstanding Leadership Award, International Indian Child Welfare Conference.
Significant Publications
Edwards published extensively on American Indian issues, his work becoming a key foundation drawn on by many American Indians who became social workers and social work academics. His far-reaching and profound influence is evident in the title of an article published in the journal Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping.
Edwards, E.D. (2005). “Native American Healing”, in Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 3rd Edition, Ed., Marc Micozzi. W. B. Saunders.
Edwards, E.D. & Edwards, M.E. (2004). “Social Work Practice with American Indians and Alaskan Natives”, pp. 495-521, in Social Work: A Profession of Faces. A.T. Morales & B.W. Sheafor, (editors) Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.
Edwards, E.D. & Edwards, M.E. (2003). “Working with American Indian Children and Families”, in Understanding the Cultural Context of Working with Minority Families. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University, Office of American Indian Projects.
Edwards, E.D.; Edwards, M.E. & Byford, F. (2002). “Improving Cultural Competence in American Indian Substance Abuse Treatment,” in Minority Treatment Protocol, U. S. Government Center for Substance Abuse.
Edwards, E. D, & Edwards, M.E. (1996). “American Indians: Working with Individuals and Groups”, William C. Brown Company Publishers.
Edwards, E. D. & Edwards, M.E. (1990). "Family Care: The American Indian Elderly." Minority Aging, M.S. Harper, (editor), HHS, National Institute of Mental Health, Government Monograph.