Freda Ahenakew (1932–2011) earned her MA in Cree linguistics at the University of Manitoba and was a founding director of the Saskatchewan Indian Languages Institute. Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Saskatchewan in 1997, she was considered a leader in Indigenous language preservation and literary heritage preservation in Canada. She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1998.H.C. Wolfart is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Manitoba.