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In 1921, Ada
Blackjack sailed to the Arctic’s Wrangel Island. She had no idea it would be a l
ifeand death struggle to survive.
The petite woman was hired as a seamstress for the risky journey. Her travel
companionswere four men and a female cat, called Vic.
Blackjack was born in 1898 in Alaska. She was a Native American Inupiat wo
man, but raised bywhite Methodist missionaries. They taught her to cook, clea
n, sew, and read the bible. Theydidn’t teach her the hunting and survival skills
of her native tribe.
At the age of 16, she married Jack Blackjack. They had three children togethe
r, but two diedyoung. Jack beat Ada and starved her. He later abandoned her
and her only surviving son,Bennett, in 1921.
Bennet suffered from tuberculosis, and Blackjack didn’t have enough money t
o care for him.She put him in a local orphanage and vowed she would make e
nough money to bring himhome.
Soon after, Blackjack joined the journey organized by Arctic explorer, Vilhjalm
ur Stefansson.He wanted to claim the remote Wrangel Island for the British E
mpire.
The ocean around Wrangel Island would freeze during part of the year making
it completelyinaccessible. The plan was for the group to sail there and live for t
wo years, the timenecessary to legally claim the island.
They arrived on Wrangel with just six months of supplies. The ship that was s
upposed todeliver new supplies the following year never arrived. It couldn’t br
eak through the ice.Supplies had run out, and the once plentiful animals on th
e island disappeared.
By the beginning of 1923, the party was starving. Three of the members set o
ff in search ofhelp. They died in the wilderness. The remaining male survivor,
Lorne Knight, was deathly ill.Blackjack did her best to care for him, but he also
died.
Alone with only her cat, Vic, for a companion, Blackjack made a vow to surviv
e for the sake ofher son. For three long months, the woman with a crippling fe
ar of polar bears fought toothand nail to survive. She taught herself to shoot,
to trap, and to hunt like her ancestors. Sheeven made a makeshift boat.
On August 20th, 1923, Blackjack was finally rescued. She was wearing a coat
she had madeout of reindeer skin. The boat’s captain wrote “She had mastere
d her environment. She couldhave lived there another year.”
Blackjack returned to Alaska as a hero, but avoided the spotlight. She reunite
d with herbeloved Bennet and used her payment to fund his treatment in a Se
attle Hospital.
run out
set off
leave to go somewhere
makeshift
something temporary and of low quality; a substitute for something that is needed
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