Helen Mamayaok Maksagak, CM (April 15, 1931 – January 23, 2009) was a Canadian politician. She served as the commissioner of the Northwest Territories from January 16, 1995 until March 26, 1999 and as the first commissioner of Nunavut from April 1, 1999 until April 1, 2000. She is a notable Copper Inuk.Born on the land near Bernard Harbour in the Canadian Western Arctic, Maksagak was raised in Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik and the Bathurst Inlet area and eventually settled in Cambridge Bay to raise a family of six surviving children with her husband John Sr. Together they were stalwart supporters of the growing indigenous rights movement in the Canadian north. Their home was often a stopping place and site of discussions when young Inuit involved in negotiating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement or