Dare to impress

They call her the 'Queen of Arctic Expeditions' and 'the Female Robinson Crusoe', but all that single mom Ada Blackjack (1898 -1983) ever wanted was some money to support her sick son.

They call her the 'Queen of Arctic Expeditions' and 'the Female Robinson Crusoe', but all that single mom Ada Blackjack (1898 -1983) ever wanted was some money to support her sick son.

Abandoned by her abusive trapper husband Jack Blackjack, the Inuit seamstress set sail in 1921 for Wrangel Island, a desolate area in Northern Siberia, to join an all-male Arctic expedition (four men and a cat). Ada was 23 years old then, shy and tiny - barely five feet tall - and suffering from a crippling fear of polar bears. But in the Arctic, having the right winter gear is a matter for life and death, and although Ada lacked any survival skills, her sewing gifts were unparalleled. By the time a rescue ship would appear on the horizon almost two years later, Ada welcomed her the crew as the expedition's sole survivor, gaunt but standing tall in a majestic reindeer parka she had stitched herself. The shy Alaskan seamstress had become an Arctic heroine. What had happened? Well, when temperatures dropped to -48°C and rations ran low, three members of the expedition set out on a mission to find food and get help, leaving Ada to look after the fourth member who was bed-ridden and dying of scurvy.

The men never returned, and Ada was forced to tap into her resourcefulness, teaching herself how to shoot birds and set traps for Arctic foxes, constructing a boat out of animal skins, canvas and driftwood, even building a raised platform for spotting polar bears (no longer crippled with fear, she did remain obsessed with these formidable creatures). With only a cat for company, Ada had stepped into her power, embodying one of our favorite quotes from one of our favorite bears, Winnie the Pooh: 'You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.'