Ada Blackjack: The Woman Who Survived Alone on a Frozen Island
Ada Blackjack was a woman driven by a desperate need for money to cure her son of tuberculosis. This need led her to join an Arctic expedition with four men, a journey from which she was the only survivor. Her incredible story of survival against all odds at temperatures as low as -56 degrees Celsius is a testament to the power of a mother's love and the strength of the human spirit.
A Desperate Promise
Ada Delutuk was born in Alaska to Iñupiat parents. After her father died, her mother sent her to a Methodist missionary school in Nome, where she learned English and housekeeping skills but had no knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness. At 21, she had three children with her abusive husband, Jack Blackjack. After he disappeared, she was left with her only surviving son, Bennett, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Despite taking on any work she could find, she couldn't earn enough for his treatment.
With no other options, she had to place Bennett in an orphanage. She made him a solemn promise: she would get him back as soon as she saved enough money.
The Ill-Fated Expedition
In 1921, Ada was hired as a seamstress and cook for a five-person expedition to Wrangel Island, a remote piece of land in the Arctic Circle. The expedition was organized by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian explorer who wanted to prove that white settlers could live comfortably on the island by adopting the skills of the indigenous people.
Ada was promised a generous salary of $50 a month, a significant sum at the time. She reluctantly agreed, as she desperately needed the money. However, upon boarding the ship, she discovered that instead of a mixed-gender crew of Indigenous people, she was the only woman and the only Inupiat, joined by four American and Canadian men. It was too late to back out.
On September 15, 1921, the crew of five—Ada, Alan Crawford, Milton Galle, Lorne Knight, and Fred Maurer—landed on the hostile island, along with their sled dogs and a cat named Vic. They had supplies for only six months, as Stefansson had assured them they would be able to hunt for food until a resupply ship arrived in the summer.
Forgotten and Alone
Initially, things went smoothly. Ada, though homesick and afraid of polar bears, worked hard alongside the men. However, as time went on, Ada began to exhibit strange behavior, including long periods of catatonia—a state of unresponsiveness and immobility—and an intense fear of knives. This was later identified as a form of Arctic hysteria, a condition that sometimes affects those living in the far north. She eventually recovered, but the strange behavior would return.
After the first winter, hope was high that the supply ship would arrive. But summer passed, then fall, and no one came. The group didn't know that the ship had gotten stuck in the ice and was forced to turn back. By January, with temperatures plummeting to -56 degrees Celsius, the group's supplies were gone.
In a last-ditch effort, three of the men—Crawford, Maurer, and Galle—decided to cross the frozen strait to Siberia in search of help. They were never seen again.
Only Ada and Lorne Knight remained. Soon after, Knight became gravely ill with scurvy, a fatal lack of vitamin C. Ada was forced to become his caregiver, cook, and hunter all at once. She had to learn how to build traps, skin animals, chop wood, and, despite her fear, use a gun to hunt for food. All the while, Knight, in his despair, lashed out at her. For six months, Ada cared for him until he passed away in June 1923.
A Heroine's Homecoming
Ada was now completely alone, surrounded by polar bears and the vast, unforgiving Arctic landscape. On the brink of despair, she clung to the promise she had made to her son. She wrote a will, but she never gave up. She continued to fight for her life.
On August 20, 1923, after nearly two years on the island, Ada heard a strange noise. It was a rescue ship, finally able to reach the island. The rescuers found only Ada and her cat. She was an overnight sensation, hailed as a heroine and dubbed a "female Robinson Crusoe."
Despite her fame, Ada received only a fraction of the money she was owed. But she managed to sell the furs she had collected on the island, which was enough to take Bennett to Seattle for treatment.
Ada Blackjack returned to Alaska, where she lived a quiet life. She never saw the fame or fortune that her incredible story should have brought her. She died at the age of 85, her gravestone simply inscribed with the words: "Heroine of the Wrangel Island Expedition."
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