stefansson-wrangel-09-30-003

11

I will be left alone with the native woman. But one of the things about this country is that circumstances sometimes demand actions that would he reprehensible 'on the outside.' I am sure that anyone looking at this case clearly will see that there is nothing else to be done......"

On January 29th after the other three men had left for Nome: "I wonder what people will say about my staying here alone with the female? Crawford and I talked the matter over thoroughly and altho I disliked staying and he disliked my staying here with her, we came to the conclusion that it was the best thing to do. Stefansson, I am sure,will agree to that. And with some discretion, I am sure the three men who have just left can soften things down a lot when they get to Nome. The woman does not seem to mind it, and to be perfectly frank, I think she is rather glad of the circum stances, for as I stated long ago, she is most anxious to "get" a white man. No chance as far as I'm concerned."

On February 7th as Knight became weak from the disease from which he later died, he wrote, "The woman is a great deal more frightened over my condition than I am, and I don’t deny that it is a rather mean position in which she finds herself, but she is wonderfully cheerful and is now busy sharpening the wood saw. She insists on doing practically everything, and I willingly permit her, for I am not able to do much. "

Later when Knight's illness progressed the entries in the unmutilated parts of the diary express occasional annoyance with Ada Blackjack because she did not tend the traps and hunt as energetically as he thought she should. It must be remembered that at this time she, too, was ill, and that Knight's own point of view may have been already somewhat modified by his disease. There are also mutilations of this part of the diary by Mr. Noice which make it unfair that we should quote the parts which he has not destroyed, allowing them to be seen out of their original context by readers who are not fully familiar with the case. Those who know the situation thoroughly, must agree with Lorne Knight's father who wrote in reply to Mr. Noice's charge that Ada Blackjack was responsible for, or could have prevented the death of his son: "I still maintain that Ada Blackjack was a real heroine and that there is nothing to justify me in the faintest belief that she did not do for Lorne all that she was able to do."