Freda Ahenakew

Freda Ahenakew, CM SOM (February 11, 1932 – April 8, 2011) was a Canadian author and academic of Cree descent. Ahenakew was considered a leader in Indigenous language preservation and literary heritage preservation in Canada. She was a sister-in-law to the political activist David Ahenakew.

Biography

Freda Ahenakew was born in Ahtahkakoop, Saskatchewan, the second of eight children. Her parents were Edward and Annie (née Bird) Ahenakew. She spent some of her teenage years living at St. Alban's Residential School in Prince Albert, and attended the Prince Albert Collegiate Institute

Ahenakew married Harold Greyeyes from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation (which henceforth made her a member of the same), and together they had 12 children. She would later return to follow her educational goals in 1968, where she attended high school with 9 of her children. In 1979, she would obtain her Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan while teaching Cree language. Her marriage to Greyeyes ended the same year. Between 1976 to 1981, she found employment teaching at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College, the Lac La Ronge Band, and the Saskatchewan Survival School (now the Joe Duquette High School) in Saskatoon.