Ada Blackjack inducted into Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame

Ada Blackjack was inducted posthumously in the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame last week.
Ada Blackjack was an Inupiaq woman who reluctantly rose to fame as the only survivor of a doomed expedition to Wrangel Island from 1921 to 1923.
Ada Delutuk was born in 1898 in Spruce Creek, in the Topkok Hills near Klokerblok River. When she was eight, her mother sent her to a school run by missionaries in Nome where she learned to read and write. At the age of 16, she married Jack Blackjack, with whom she had three children.
Only one son, Bennet, survived infancy. Ada divorced Blackjack and was left with no money. Bennet became seriously ill with tuberculosis, and his mother was unable to afford his medical care. She had to place her son in an orphanage where he could be treated.
Desperate to earn enough money to afford Bennet’s treatment, she joined up with an expedition that aimed to claim the uninhabited Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, for Canada and the British.
The expedition was funded by Vilhjálmur Stefánsson and led by Allan Crawford. Stefánsson believed that anyone could live in the north and that it was just like any other place in the world. Lorne Knight, Frederick Maurer and Milton Galle joined the expedition, along with a tabby kitten the men had picked up in Seattle, named Victoria. 
From the start, the expedition experienced problems. The men had been told to purchase an umiak, a large open hulled boat made of skin and driftwood, but purchased a cheaper dory instead. The expedition was planned to last two years, but they only brought enough supplies for six months, and much of what they did bring was rotten. The sled dogs they purchased in Nome were not in good shape. The expedition had intended to hire several Native families, but Ada Blackjack was the only one who went. 
Blackjack’s grandson Michael Johnson said in an interview with The Nome Nugget that the tribal members who intended to go backed out after visiting a shaman.
“When they got into Nome, they went and saw the shaman, and the shaman said, ‘There is great death ahead of you,’ and so everyone quit, but Ada went because she had to,” he said. 
Blackjack was not an experienced hunter when she embarked on the trip, and spent her time sewing. According to Johnson, the men treated her badly and would force her to sleep outside unless she completed her day’s work. 
The expedition lasted throughout the first year, but the men were not able to hunt enough game to feed themselves and they went hungry. The relief ship coming in September with a fresh group of explorers turned back before reaching Wrangel Island, and the expedition was left on the island for another winter. 
As the second winter came, they grew desperate. In early January 1923, Allan Crawford and Lorne Knight attempted to set out for Nome via dog team, but turned back, unprepared for the weather. In late January, Allan Crawford, Frederick Maurer and Milton Galle set out for help. Scurvy-stricken Lorne Knight was left behind in the care of Ada Blackjack. The three men were never seen again.
Blackjack took over Maurer’s three-mile trap line and taught herself to set the traps and hunt foxes.
Johnson said that Ada taught herself how to survive. 
“Amazingly, she started teaching herself all this stuff, how to use the rifle,” he said.
Johnson said that Ada made herself a canoe out of sealskin. She could not get to the walrus, but she could hear them.
All throughout late winter and early spring, Knight got worse. He was bedridden and unable to help with hunting and was even unable to write in his diary.
Ada began keeping her own diary.
In June, Knight died. Blackjack moved into the storage tent with the cat Victoria. She would sometimes stand on the beach watching for Galle, Crawford and Maurer, or for the relief ship.
On August 20, 1923, a ship named the Donaldson, captained by Harold Noice, arrived and brought her back to safety. Ada had survived for eight months on Wrangel island, two of those months alone.
Ada used the money she had earned from the trip to take Bennet out of the orphanage and to Seattle for treatment. She was very private and shied away from public attention. She visited Lorne Knight’s family in Oregon and tried to return his Bible, but they wanted her to keep it. Michael Johnson said that she used the Bible until she died.
In February 1924, Harold Noice released an article accusing Ada of starving Knight and other serious accusations that he later retracted. Ada went to the press herself and told her story in her own words. The newspaper in Seattle intended to publish a story every day for three days, but it was too painful for Ada, and she asked them not to.
Ada had one more son, Billy, and after living in Seattle, Spokane, Juneau and Kodiak, she moved to Anchorage. Michael Johnson, her grandson, recalls visiting her when he was stationed in Adak with the Navy. 
“I would stop in and see her in Anchorage, and sleep on her couch,” he said. Michael Johnson said that many people tried to get Ada to speak about her experiences, but that she was a very private person. 
“Lots of people tried to get her to, and they even tried to go through me sometimes,” he said.
In 1983, Ada passed away at the age of 85 in the Pioneer Home in Palmer, Alaska. She is buried next to her son Bennet.
After petitioning the State Legislature, the body officially recognized Ada Blackjack Johnson as one of the most heroic, yet unheralded Alaskan women in history. The Alaska Legislature officially honored her on June 16, 1983, as a true and courageous hero.
On October 21, 2025, Ada was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame for her achievements in Arctic Exploration. Inductees are honored for their “contributions [that] have influenced the direction of Alaska in any field,” according to the organization’s website. Saresa Whitwer, Ada’s great granddaughter, gave a speech. 
“She lived a difficult life, but I believe she felt great pride and she had deep love from her family,” she said. “Her children were everything to her, and what truly got her through the hard times.”
Johnson, Blackjack’s grandson, wrote that his grandmother lived her life by a simple mantra: “If I Alive, I keep going.”