She had built her observation platform — a raised structure on top of the tent from which she could spot approaching bears before they reached the camp — a construction that followed the same basic logic that Iñupiat hunters in northern Alaska had always employed: elevation to extend the visual range across flat tundra.

Her diary during this period records both the practical details of survival and the psychological reality of isolation.

She was keeping herself occupied, pushing herself to maintain the daily tasks that had kept her alive through the winter.

She practiced shooting.

She noted the weather.

She recorded the state of the camp’s supplies.

She sewed — including a pair of child’s moccasins she was making to bring home to Bennett.

The moccasins are, in the larger story of Ada Blackjack’s survival, one of the most revealing details.