I don't know how much relevant this is, but I was reminded immediately of the Sannikov Land.

"Russian geologist and science fiction writer Vladimir Obruchev fictionalized this phantom island in his novel Sannikov Land (1926). In the story, the island provided the last escape for a tribe of Onkilon (in fact, this was one of the older names for Yuit), pushed away from the mainland by other Siberian peoples. The (fictional) Onkilon were thought to be extinct, and were discovered by a small expedition looking for the island and eventually stranded at it."
Sannikov Land - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know about this story from the film. The ending wasn't a happy one.