On June 17, 1913, a ship named the Karluk left from northern Canada to explore the Arctic. The mission was the idea of anthropologist Vilhalmjar Stefansson. He recruited a crew of 13 sailors, 10 scientists, and four Eskimos. One of them brought his wife and two girls. And there were dog to pull sleds. And there was one cat. The sailors wanted a cat on board for good luck, but Stefansson forbid this because he thought the dogs would kill it. One of the crew smuggled a black kitten on board. The crew named the little fur ball “Nigeraurak” which means ‘little black one”. He was loved by all, especially the two girls. Fred Maurer became her unofficial caretaker. He taught her tricks when she wasn’t roaming the ship. Nigeraurak turned out not to be a lucky cat, but it wasn’t her fault. The voyage was doomed from the start. There were several problems like poor planning by Stefansson, an inexperienced crew, lack of winter clothing, and barely seaworthy ship that was not constructed to survive the ice it would encounter. Sure enough, the Karluk got caught in the ice and starred drifting with the current. Stefansson decided he would take some men to go hunting for game. They did not come back. Instead, Steransson and the others spent the winter in a camp created by another ship. It is unclear whether Stefansson abandoned the ship or could not return. When the ice began to crush the ship, captain Bob Bartlett ordered everyone to abandon ship. They couldn’t find Nigeraurak, but she showed up the next day and was rescued right before the ship sank. They removed all the supplies and set up a camp called Shipwreck Camp”. It had two houses made of blocks of snow and boxes. Nigeraurak kept spirits up with his antics. He played with the kids and the adults enjoyed his company. He was cared for because he was considered to be a good luck charm. He was fed scraps of pemmican. They all felt that as long as the frisky feline lived, they still had hope. After several months, it was decided they would try to make it to Wrangel Island which would put them on solid ground instead of ice. For the trip, Nigeraurak travelled in a deerskin bag around his neck. It was a hard journey. At one point they had to cut their way through a snow ridge. They set up a new camp. Four men went off exploring and ended up dying. Barlett decided there only chance was for him to get back to civilization and send a rescue ship. He set off with an Eskimo and after a difficult journey made it to Alaska. In September, 1914, a ship arrived and rescued the 13 survivors, dogs and puppies they had had, and one cute cat. NIgeraurak’s adventures were over as he settled down with Maurer. Maurer gave her kittens to some of the survivors.
https://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/adv13.html
https://contentcatnip.com/2022/10/19/comforting-thought-a-cat-represents-our-shared-humanity-during-the-worst-of-times/
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