A Legend
- Margaret M. Kirk
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Hello beautiful souls. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you are all doing well and finding some joy every day. I am pretty low energy today between some things going on in my life and just about everything that is going on in the world. I did however see something about this amazing woman earlier in the week and want to share her here.
This is from 90's history:
She was left alone in the Arctic ice for 2 years—with only a cat for company.
This is how Ada Blackjack survived.
In 1921, Ada Blackjack, a young Inuit mother desperate to provide for her ailing son, joined an Arctic expedition as a seamstress. She wasn’t an explorer, nor a hunter—just a woman trying to earn money.
The mission, led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, sought to claim Wrangel Island for Canada. Ada was the only woman, and the only Inuk among four white male explorers. When supplies ran low, the men set off for help across the ice… and never returned.
Ada was left behind with a dying teammate and a cat named Vic. Soon, it was just her and Vic—alone in subzero wilderness, 700 miles from help.
She taught herself to shoot a rifle.
She fended off polar bears with a knife.
She sewed her own mittens when her fingers froze.
She trapped foxes. Ate seal. Read the Bible aloud.
And through it all, Vic curled close to keep her warm.
Two years later, rescuers arrived. She was still alive. Thin. Worn. But unbroken.
The world nearly forgot her. The men got the headlines.
But today, we remember Ada Blackjack for what she was:
A survivor. A mother. A fighter. A legend.
For more about Ada, see below.
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