Ada Blackjack: The Only One Left Alive on a Frozen Arctic Island — True Survival Story

In 1921, a 23-year-old Iñupiaq seamstress named Ada Blackjack joined an expedition to Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, to earn money for her sick son. Two years later, she was the only member still alive. This is the true story of how a woman who could not shoot and feared polar bears survived alone in the Arctic — and how the world treated her afterwards. Ada Blackjack was hired as a seamstress, not an explorer. Hers is a true survival story of a young mother who taught herself to hunt, trap and shoot to stay alive on Wrangel Island. Her own diary, kept at Dartmouth, records those months day by day. This true survival story follows her from Nome in 1921 to her rescue in 1923 — and what came after. CHAPTERS 0:00 Alone 1:35 Nome, 1921 3:34 Wrangel Island 5:10 The ship that never came 6:50 Across the ice 8:25 Lorne Knight 10:05 The last one 11:43 Learning to survive 13:24 The ship 15:02 After the island New true survival story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday — subscribe to Survival Story Hour. ─────────────── SOURCES FOR THIS TRUE SURVIVAL STORY • Wikipedia — Ada Blackjack: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Bla... • U.S. National Park Service — Ada Blackjack: Stranded on Wrangel Island: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/ada-... • Dartmouth Library — Ada Blackjack Diary: https://www.library.dartmouth.edu/dig... • Wikipedia — Wrangel Island: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrangel... • Jennifer Niven, Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic (2003) • Historical photographs (1921–1925): public domain via Wikimedia Commons • Wrangel Island landscape photos: Vitaly Dvoryachenko and Anastasia Petukhova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Sources differ on some details — the exact rescue date (19 or 20 August 1923) and Ada's year of birth. Where they disagree, we use the cautious version. Every true survival story on Survival Story Hour is told from real sources. These are true stories, not survival advice. If you are in danger, contact your local emergency services. Narration uses a synthetic voice. Background music is original and generated for this channel. #TrueSurvivalStory #AdaBlackjack #SurvivalStories