"The First Eskimo Heroine"

Not many of us have ever heard of an island that is generally barren, frozen and rocky through most of the year located in the Arctic Ocean between the East Siberian Sea and the Chukotsk Sea-Wrangel Island.

In 1921, a Canadian explorer, Vihjalmur Stefansson, sent four young men, only one an actual British subject, and one Eskimo woman, Ada Blackjack, to Wrangel Island. The objective was to claim the island for Great Britain, and to prove that it was possible to survive in this "godforsaken" place, notwithstanding its cruel climate and terrain.

The original venture was only to be a vanguard for a grand and elaborate further British expedition that was to join the group the following summer. Unbeknown to the four young men, the expedition was never approved or supported by the British Government, and Stefansson never joined the group the following summer. In fact, Stefansson was more interested in self- aggrandizement with his lecturing tours and writings than he was with the welfare of the group.

Jennifer Niven, author of Ada Blackjack A Story Of Survival In The Arctic, has brilliantly pieced together, through her extensive research of diaries, journals, letters, unpublished manuscripts, papers that were written by the four young men, their families, and the Eskimo woman, Ada Blackjack, a vivid picture as to what had transpired, while these brave, naïve, and inexperienced individuals lived on the island.

What is so tragic about the entire expedition is that only one individual survived, Ada Blackjack. Three members, due to a shortage of food, left the party for the Siberian coast, and the fourth one died of scurvy, while being under the compassionate care of Ada Blackjack. As for Stefansson, he managed to more or less protect his reputation, while casting the blame of this disastrous and ill- prepared venture on others.

If there is a lesson in Ada Blackjack A Story Of Survival In The Arctic it is that sometimes fear combined with religious faith turns out to be your savior. Although, Ada Blackjack may have initially feared hunting, as well as living with a sick person, whom she was forced to care for, it was these fears that ultimately contributed to her survival. Was Ada Blackjack brave? When asked to comment, she would say, "Brave? I don't know about that. But I would never give up hope while I'm still alive."

It was probably this hope that continued to help her survive after her return from Wrangel Island, as her life was filled with turmoil, poverty, sadness, slander, illness, and constant escape from a taunting society.

Niven's prose is truly a remarkable, absorbing and powerful read. In two words, it is irresistibly readable. You are immediately hooked by the author's ease of recapturing the intensity and history of the expedition, and the vivid dialogue of the story's principal characters. You are also taken in by the way Niven has admirably focused a great deal of her story on the first Eskimo heroine, Ada Blackjack.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted January 5, 2004

Summary

From the author of The Ice Master comes the remarkable true story of a young Inuit woman who survived six months alone on a desolate, uninhabited Arctic island. In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman -- who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband -- conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished. Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion - - after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions -- did she speak up for herself. Jennifer Niven has created an absorbing, compelling history of this remarkable woman, taking full advantage of the wealth of first-hand resources about Ada that exist, including her never-before-seen diaries, the unpublished diaries from other primary characters, and interviews with Ada's surviving son. Ada Blackjack is more than a rugged tale of a woman battling the elements to survive in the frozen north -- it is the story of a hero.