Wrangel Island Expedition

In 1921, Vilhjalmur Stefansson organised a small expedition to occupy Wrangel Island and advance a British territorial claim. Four young men travelled with Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiat woman hired as seamstress and cook, despite limited equipment and insufficient preparation for prolonged isolation.

The expected relief ship failed to reach the island in 1922. Food shortages, illness and worsening conditions led three men to attempt a journey across the sea ice, while another died after remaining in camp. Blackjack learned to hunt and maintain the camp and survived until rescue in 1923.

The expedition became a case study in polar ambition, inadequate planning and the unequal treatment of Indigenous participants.