Ada Blackjack was just 23 when she agreed to join the Wrangel Island Exhibition team as its seamstress. A member of Alaska’s Inupiaq people, Blackjack lacked formal wilderness skills but was told her only responsibility would be using animal hides to sew clothing for the four men she’d accompany.
When plans went awry, however, Blackjack eventually found herself alone in the arctic. In 1923, two years after the first part of her team was separated from her, Blackjack was rescued—the only survivor out of the five. Her story is just one of several true tales that inspired the Witte Museum’s newest visiting exhibition, Survival: The Exhibition, open Saturday, May 25 through Labor Day, Sept. 2.
A world premier produced by Imagine Exhibitions Inc., Survival takes guests through 10 different outdoor scenes where they’ll have the chance to learn about an individual who survived in that climate and then to pick up some skills of their own with which to persevere in the wilderness. “Every area has a lot of fun content for adults and lots of hands-on activities for the kids,” says Katye Brought, director of communications and marketing at the Witte.
In the arctic area, which was inspired by Blackjack, visitors will learn about how to use the stars and sun for navigation, how to build a compass and how to create makeshift snowshoes.
Helen Holdsworth, vice president of public programs, says kids can learn about how to build shelters while in the woods, about gathering water in the desert and, through the help of a virtual reality fire, about how to build a fire in the forest. There are also knot-tying challenges, lessons about creating makeshift snowshoes and sunglasses and more. Each area includes technology as well as the opportunity to try your hand at a skill.
The devastation left by the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, tornado inspired one scene while Hurricane Katrina provided the background for another. Holdsworth said those areas provide history about the natural disasters while also educating guests on how to prepare should something like that strike.
A living room closes out the vignettes, encouraging families to learn about preparedness at home, whether by having fire extinguishers on hand or a plan of where to go in the case of a tornado.
The survival skills kids and adults will learn are meant to build on one another throughout the exhibit, Holdsworth says. Along with stressing the importance of being prepared, she said the exhibit also aims to instill confidence in using those skills—even if on a campout rather than when in survival mode.
Before heading home, kids and adults alike will have the opportunity to complete their own challenge in an American Ninja Warrior–style obstacle course that includes ropes and a zipline. “It’s fun because no one has ever seen this exhibit before,” Holdsworth says.
Survival: The Exhibition
May 25-Sept. 2