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Dr. Priscilla Belisle

Board Chair, Skaˀnikú·lat Board Directors

akaulhá/akowʌ·/she/her/hers

Dr. Priscilla Belisle is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and a member of the Bear Clan. She is is a parent of students attending Teshakonatnʌtshotalhu (Skaˀnikú·lat's Oneida Language Medium School), an active community member and respected professional in the Oneida community. Priscilla's Oneida name is is Teyelihokʌ meaning “she is of two minds."

thó nú· akliwá·ke 'that's where about me' (Biography)

"Our ancestors built strong, matrilineal societies where women played a central role in governance, community, and cultural preservation. It is time for a return to that matriarchal consciousness, where our languages, teachings, and ways of knowing guide us toward a future rooted in strength, balance, and collective responsibility."

- Dr Belisle's personal beliefs on the important intersection of language revitalization, reclamation, and Oneida women's leadership.

Dr. Priscilla Belisle currently works in the public sector educating, advocating, and supporting Indigenous communities's self-determination. She has nearly 15 years of experience and extensive expertise in grant writing, grant management, strategic planning, program development, program assessment, and budget operations. Over her career, she has helped secure over $7,500,000 in grants and has worked to create impactful, community-based projects that drive economic development and cultural revitalization. Dr. Belisle’s past work includes curriculum development, grant support, and administrative leadership for the TehatiwʌnákhwaɁ Language Nest Oneida Language Immersion Program. In a previous capacity, Priscilla conducted a community needs assessment and prioritized community building as a strategy to address the substance abuse and drug epidemic in the Oneida community and advocated for cultural approaches to this challenge as a mechanism for healing. She also holds adjunct appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where she teaches a grants management course in the Ed.D. Doctoral Graduate Program, and at the College of Menominee Nation, where she also teaches project management.

With nearly 20 years of Tribal community engagement experience, Dr. Belisle has played a key role in planning workshops, community events, and various community-led strategic initiatives. Her efforts have consistently focused on revitalizing Indigenous languages, enhancing cultural identity, and fostering sustainable economic opportunities for Tribal Nations. She continues to advance these goals along with her her leadership in cultural education and advocacy at Skaˀnikú·lat, by providing key support and advisement on program development, community needs assessments, community outreach and development. 

Dr. Belisle earned a B.A. in Political Science, Social Change & Development, and First Nations Studies and an M.S. in Teaching and Learning from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She later obtained her Ed.D. with a focus on Global Indigenous Education, Language, and Culture from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Priscilla’s dissertation titled, A Haudenosaunee Intrinsic Multiple Case Study on the Influence of Dissonance on Yukwatsistayʌ for Young Oneida Women at Predominantly White Institutions, explored the intersection of cultural identity and its correlations to college success. Her Thesis focused on understanding the relationship between Yukwatsistayʌ, which translates to “fire—or the spirit within each of us” and “dissonance”, which she viewed as an opportunity for growth and self-actualization within Oneida (Haudenosaunee) culture. Her dissertation research grew out of her own experience as a Native woman attending predominantly white institutions (PWI) of higher education. Navigating PWIs to attain her academic degrees was challenging for Belisle, who was raised with a strong sense of cultural identity. A lifelong learner and teacher of the Oneida language, Dr. Belisle resides on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin with her husband and children. She is deeply connected to her culture and inspired by her family’s enduring commitment to revitalizing Oneida traditions and language. She is a mother to 5 beautiful children and resides in Oneida, Wisconsin and enjoys crocheting, nice pens, walks, watching marvel movies, traveling to pow-wows with her husband, Cody.

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