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Ada Blackjack (née Delutuk; May 10, 1898 – May 29, 1983) was an Iñupiaq woman who accompanied an Arctic expedition to the uninhabited Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, eventually living alone on the island for eight months after the other expedition members left or died.

Ada Delutuk was born on May 10, 1898 or 1899, in the remote settlement of Spruce Creek, 8 mi (13 km) from Solomon, Alaska. Ada's father died of food poisoning when she was eight years old, and her mother sent her and her sister, Rita, to a Methodist mission school in Nome, Alaska. She was raised by missionaries who taught her to read English and sew. At age 16, she married Jack Blackjack, a former hunter and dogsled driver, and moved with him to the Seward Peninsula. Jack abused Ada, finally deserting her and their surviving son, Bennett. Ada obtained a divorce before her husband could return and walked 40 miles (64 km) with Bennett to Nome, where her mother was living. To survive, Ada cleaned houses and sewed clothes for miners, but was still unable to afford Bennett's tuberculosis treatment. Ada became committed to making money to be reunited with her son. Jordan was familiar with Ada's situation, so he mentioned to her that some men were recruiting Inuit to go with them on their Arctic expeditions across the Chukchi Sea to Wrangel Island. While Jordan was not familiar with the purpose of the expedition, he believed that Ada, who spoke English and was an excellent seamstress, might be a good fit for the mission, which needed someone to sew fur clothing for the team. The expedition was led by Canadian explorer Allan Crawford but financed, planned and encouraged by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Stefansson remained behind to fundraise for another exploration to search for a continent north of Wrangel Island.

Stefansson sent five settlers (one European Canadian, three European Americans, and one Iñupiaq, Blackjack) in a speculative attempt to claim the island for Canada. On 15 September 1921, the team was left on Wrangel Island north of Siberia, to claim the island for Canada or the United Kingdom. Blackjack had many misgivings about joining the expedition, especially because she had been misled to believe she would be only one of many Alaska Native people to join the crew. The team included five people: Blackjack, who had been hired as a cook and seamstress; the American men Lorne Knight, Milton Galle, and Fred Maurer; and Allan Crawford. Maurer had spent eight months on the island in 1914 after surviving the shipwreck of the Karluk. On January 28, 1923, three of the men finally attempted to cross the 90 mi (140 km) frozen Chukchi Sea to Siberia for help and food, leaving Blackjack and the ailing Knight behind. Knight was affected by scurvy and was cared for by Ada until he died on June 23, 1923. The other three men were never seen again, and so Blackjack was alone, except for the expedition's cat, Victoria. Blackjack survived in the extremely cold conditions for eight months, learning to hunt foxes, build boats, and sew parkas out of reindeer skin. Blackjack used the money she saved to take her son to Seattle, Washington, to treat his tuberculosis.

Blackjack was a quiet person and hated the media circus that developed around her and the attempts by Stefansson and her rescuer Noice to exploit her story. Except for her expedition salary and a few hundred dollars she had earned for the furs she trapped on Wrangel, Blackjack did not benefit from her ordeal and received no compensation from the books that were written about her. Blackjack died in the state retirement facility, the Pioneer Home, in Palmer, Alaska, and was buried in Anchorage. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur; Knight, John Irvine; Knight, Errol Lorne (1925).

Quick Facts

• Ada Delutuk was born on May 10, 1898 or 1899, in the remote settlement of Spruce Creek, 8 mi (13 km) from Solomon, Alaska.
• The team included five people: Blackjack, who had been hired as a cook and seamstress; the American men Lorne Knight, Milton Galle, and Fred Maurer; and Allan Crawford.
• Stefansson sent five settlers (one European Canadian, three European Americans, and one Iñupiaq, Blackjack) in a speculative attempt to claim the island for Canada.
• Ada's father died of food poisoning when she was eight years old, and her mother sent her and her sister, Rita, to a Methodist mission school in Nome, Alaska.
• On January 28, 1923, three of the men finally attempted to cross the 90 mi (140 km) frozen Chukchi Sea to Siberia for help and food, leaving Blackjack and the ailing Knight behind.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Ada Blackjack". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.