Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: November 21, 2013
• Invested on: November 21, 2014

For her contributions as a linguist and scholar whose research on Canada’s North has notably helped to preserve the Athapaskan languages.

Keren Rice has helped to renew, preserve and record Canada’s Aboriginal languages. One of our foremost scholars in linguistics and Aboriginal studies, she has helped to sustain Athapaskan languages, notably Slavey, a dialect spoken by the Dene people in the Northwest Territories. She was instrumental in developing a standardized writing system and grammar guide for teachers. As a founder of the Aboriginal studies program and the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Toronto, she has helped to foster a better understanding of Indigenous knowledge.