Female Robinson Crusoe
Ada Blackjack became famous because of an Arctic expedition in 1923. The expedition consisted of four men and the only woman, Ada. She spent two years on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, one of the most remote and wild places on the planet. At the end of the expedition, the men were gone but Ada was rescued. Most newspapers called her heroic because she survived in the harsh environment.
Ada was an Inuit born in Alaska. At an early age, she was adopted by a family of American missionaries. They taught her to read English, cook and sew. She had a nice voice and liked singing. Ada got married and had three children but only one of them, Bennet, survived infancy. As her husband left her, she had to clean houses and sew clothes for miners to earn a living.
To survive, Ada worked day and night but the money was still not enough. Her little son Bennet suffered from tuberculosis and needed the treatment she could not afford. That's why she temporarily had to place Bennet in a special home for children, which could offer better care for his tuberculosis. Ada promised her son that they would reunite when she made enough money.
At that time, a Canadian polar explorer Stefansson organized an expedition to the Arctic. He planned to send five settlers to Wrangel Island. He was looking for an Inuit woman who could speak English and sew bear skins. Ada was the ideal choice. Stefansson promised Ada money for Bennet's treatment. She agreed.
Stefansson's plan was to prove to the world that people were able to survive in the harsh Arctic environment. That is why he deliberately bought only part of the food needed for the expedition. The food supply he had provided was enough for only six months, after which the team was supposed to hunt for it. Naturally, Ada and her teammates knew nothing about that risky and cruel plan.
The travellers arrived on the island in September, 1921. They put up tents and built an igloo to store their provisions. Next summer, when there was nothing edible left, three men decided to reach the land to find food but they never came back. Ada and one man who was sick stayed on the island. She chopped wood, cooked, and sewed skins. Although she was afraid of polar bears, she learned how to use a rifle to hunt them and protect the camp.
Ada felt lonely and kept a diary to share her thoughts. The man died in the summer of 1923, two months before the rescue Canadian ship Donaldson arrived. The sailors found Ada and brought the exhausted woman home. Ada got enough money to treat Bennet and live with him as a family.
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13. Some members of the team died during the Wrangel Island expedition.
14. Ada's husband was an American missionary.
15. Ada's son, Bennet, suffered from a serious disease.
16. Ada decided to join the dangerous expedition because she needed money.
17. Stefansson provided enough food to complete the expedition successfully.
18. To cope with fear and hunger, Ada sang traditional Inuit tunes.
19. Ada was found and rescued by the Inuit hunters.