Helen Mamayaok Maksagak, (April 15, 1931 – January 23, 2009) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She served as the

commissioner of the Northwest Territories The commissioner of the Northwest Territories (french: Commissaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is the Government of Canada's representative in the Northwest Territories. Similar in certain functions to a lieutenant governor, the commissioner s ...

from January 16, 1995 until March 26, 1999 and as the first

commissioner of Nunavut The commissioner of Nunavut ( iu, ᑲᒥᓯᓇ ᓄᓇᕗᒧᑦ; Inuinnaqtun: ''Kamisinauyuq Nunavunmut''; french: Commissaire du Nunavut) is the Government of Canada's representative in the territory of Nunavut. The current commissioner since Janua ...

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 Tuktoyaktuk , or ''Tuktuyaaqtuuq'' (Inuvialuktun: ''it looks like a caribou''), is an Inuvialuit hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway.Montgomery, ...

Aklavik Aklavik (Inuvialuktun: ''Akłarvik'') (from the Inuvialuktun meaning '' barrenground grizzly place'') is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served ...

and the

Bathurst Inlet Bathurst Inlet, officially Kiluhiqtuq, is a deep inlet located along the northern coast of the Canadian mainland, at the east end of Coronation Gulf, into which the Burnside and Western rivers empty. The name, or its native equivalent ''Kingo ...

area and eventually settled in

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: ''Iqaluktuuttiaq'' Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ; 2021 population 1,760; population centre 1,403) is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settl ...

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 participating in Northwest Territories political life passed through the community. Maksagak was appointed as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories in 1992. In 1995, she was appointed as Commissioner, partially in anticipation of the pending creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999. She was the first woman and first

Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...

to hold the office. In April 1999 she transferred with her office to the new Nunavut Territory and continued to provide stability to the new government in transition. She served until April 2000 as the first commissioner of the newly created territory of Nunavut and then as Assistant Commissioner of Nunavut from 2005 until her death in 2009. Helen Maksagak was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada in May, 2003.What an honour
- News North June 23, 2003 - retrieved May 2015 She served as a member of the Qulliit (Nunavut) Status of Women Council and as an Elder for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Maksagak died on January 23, 2009 at the age of 77. Helen Maksagak Drive in Iqaluit is named in her memory.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maksagak, Helen 1931 births 2009 deaths Inuit politicians Commissioners of Nunavut Commissioners of the Northwest Territories Members of the Order of Canada People from Cambridge Bay Women in Nunavut politics Women in Northwest Territories politics Northwest Territories Deputy Commissioners Canadian Inuit women 20th-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut