stefansson-wrangel-09-30-003-011

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 any-
one 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."