Dakota Datebook

For many, Valentine’s Day is a time for love and gratitude for the people in our lives, and it’s been celebrated since the early 1700s. Around this time in 1910, you could attend a Valentine’s Day social in Bismarck, or buy a card that professed your love and devotion from Finney’s drug store.

North Dakota Native American essential understanding number one is about sacred relatives. It states, "Native people practice a deep interconnectedness with the land, the resources, the water, all living things and all human beings. Land stewardship, respect for all two-legged, four-legged, winged, crawlers, and swimmers. And a strong belief in the sacredness of all human beings are key elements of our spirituality."

Relatively early on in his reign, on this date in 1914, amidst reports of the opening ceremony of the British Parliament, King George V was also making news in North Dakota. Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert was proclaimed King George V of England in 1910. He would reign until 1936 through some tumultuous times.

On this date in 1968, the University of North Dakota's student newspaper, The Dakota Student, revealed a bombshell – “Iron Mask exists.”

On this date in 1983, the Bottineau Current reported on a recent visit by Tiny Tim, the quirky singer and ukulele player. He was quite famous at the time, having made a name for himself with his signature song, “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll hear Eya Co Nape Tasunka Fox, an indigenous dancer, young father, and an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, share how he honors his young son's identity through immersing him in his family's generational cultural practices, while allowing his individuality to inform his ultimate course.

On this date in 1897, the Fargo society column in “The World,” a Black newspaper in the Twin Cities, printed the following: “The H. P. C. met Friday and gave a fine entertainment at the [residence] of Mrs. E. Hayes on Front street and the program was well rendered by all who took part. The H. P. C's are going to have a banquet on the evening of [February] 20, and a good time is anticipated.”

It should be obvious to drivers that a car is no match for a train, but the number of accidents at railroad crossings steadily increased in the early years of the Twentieth Century. At that time, few crossings had signs or warning lights. Drivers were urged to pause and look before crossing the tracks.

Over the years, myriad allegations of bad acts by candidates in elections have surfaced in North Dakota – some serious, others less so. For over a century, state laws have sought to clamp down on candidate misconduct.

This month in 1891, “The Student,” the monthly student publication of the University of North Dakota, printed this story: “We had visited the soldiers' quarters, wandered around where the soldiers parade, and even visited the store, which is just outside the fort. Then longing for new fields to conquer we wondered what we should do next. At length someone suggested that we visit the Council Room of the Indians, and having learned that they were holding a council that afternoon, we sallied forth."