Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack

Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack — page 5
Leaving home at such an early age Ada never learned the traditional skills of her people skills she would desperately need in the future such as hunt ing trapping fishing firing a gun living of the land and building a shelter Instead she was introduced to the skills that white society valued She learned to read and write at an elementary level to speak Eng lish rather than her native Inuit language to read the Bible and to pray She also received training in cleaning cooking sewing and basic hygiene The one Eskimo trait she did develop was the ability to sew animal furs into clothing Like most Eskimo girls Ada married young at the age of 16 The couple moved to the Seward Peninsula After several gold rushes had emptied the mines there the community had turned into a sup plier of reindeer meat The processing of huge herds required a great deal of manpower Perhaps Ada's husband Jack Blackjack went to the Seward Penin sula to find such work He had previously worked as a hunter and a dogsled driver The marriage did not go well Not long after the wedding Ada realized her husband had a cruel streak She endured Jack beating her and starving her for six years because she wanted to protect their three children After two of them died the causes are unknown Jack deserted her leaving her and one son alone Ada struggled with the devastating loss of her children and with caring for the surviving boy Ben nett who had