Margaret R. Cote (also Margaret R. Cote-Lerat, August 2, 1950 – March 31, 2021), was a Saulteaux-Canadian educator, author, linguist, and historian. She is best known for her work concerning the preservation of Saulteaux language and culture, as well as being the first teacher in Saskatchewan to teach a First Nations language in a public school. According to Saskatchewan First Nations: Lives Past and Present, Cote "was the first person to teach a First Nations language in a public school". Early life and education Cote was born August 2, 1950, on the Cote First Nation, Saskatchewan, where she was raised. She was one of four children of John F. and Madelaine M. Cote. She grew up surrounded by Saulteaux culture and spoke the Saulteaux language when she grew up until she began attending the Canadian Indian residential school system. Cote attended the Cote Day School and then the Fort Pelly Residential School (St. Philip's Residential School), where she had attended grades one through eight. Cote would then attend Kamsack Junior High School for grade nine, she then attend the Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School (Lebret Indian Residential School) for grade ten. She would finish her final two years through a vocational upgrading program by the Cote First Nation. Cote acquired a Bachelor of Education at Brandon University in 1980. During her time at Brandon University, she would attend Saulteaux language courses and worked as a language lab assistant and tutor. In 1990, Cote graduated from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College with a degree in linguistics with distinction. She was one of the first three to do so, alongside Solomon Ratt and Billy-Joe Laboucan. Career In 1968, Cote began working with the Pelly Indian Agency office at the age of seventeen. From 1971 to 1978, Cote would work as a secretary and accountant for the Cote Band. Cote was the first person in the province of Saskatchewan to teach a First Nations language in a public school. According to Charlene Crevier writing in Saskatchewan First Nations: Lives Past and Present, Cote "was the first person to teach a First Nations language in a public school". In 1979, Cote developed Saulteaux language curriculum guides during her time within the Indian Language Program at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College (now the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre). Cote would work for the SICC as a sessional lecturer from 1982 to 1984. She went on to teach