1 - 1842 - A delegation of Mi'kmaq from New Brunswick in London, England, to petition the Queen are told: "Her Majesty has not been able to grant you an interview, but Her Majesty has signified Her Pleasure that you should each be presented with a Medal in token of the Interest which Her Majesty takes in your welfare." Thus, were Chief Joseph Ithobeitch, Francois le Bobe, and Pierre Basquet turned away without a Royal Audience. Legend has it they were not amused.

2 - 1973- A PROVINCE WIDE ORGANIZATION CALLED THE NATIVE ASSOCIATION OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR AND REPRESENTING THE INNU, INUIT AND MI'KMAQ WAS ESTABLISHED TO SEEK BETTER COLLECTIVE RIGHTS FOR ALL THREE GROUPS

Mnumkwej Na'kwekm - Ground Hog Day

3 - 1832 - A friend of the Mi'kmaq in Bear River, Nova Scotia, J. S. Harris, writes to Judge Wiswall, "I think [there ought] if possible to have something done to put a stop to the white people intruding upon their lands. It is a pity that the Indians should be thus annoyed and I hope you will prescribe an immediate remedy."

4 - In the February 1994 issue of the Micmac Maliseet Nations News, contributor John Joe Sack writes that Columbus got lost on his way to India and was so confused when he landed in South America he called the people living there by the misnomer "Indians". Sark writes, "Lucky for us Columbus wasn't looking for 'Turkey'!"

5 - 1987 - Judge Charles O'Connell finds John Noel Prosper, John A. Googoo, and Stephen Googoo guilty of illegally fishing for salmon at Whycocomagh Bay, rejecting their claim that as Mi'kmaq they have a legal right to fish based on the 1752 Treaty.

6 - 1998 - Federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Jane Stewart announces tabling of a bill transferring control of education to nine Nova Scotia reserves under the Mi'kmaq Education Act. This was the first transfer of jurisdiction from the federal government to First Nations in Canada and would become the model for other First Nations who wished to assume control of education.

1991 - Chief David Toney of Cambridge First Nation suddenly passes away.

7 - 1989 - Clara Gloade is named to the executive of the Ulnooweg Development Corporation. Gloade was also president of the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association.

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9 - 1880 - Annapolis Valley First Nation is established.

1984 - Minister of State for Multiculturalism, David Collenette presents a cheque for $300,000. to the Union of New Brunswick Indians and St. Thomas University for creation of a Chair of Studies in Native and Aboriginal Cultures of Atlantic Canada.

10 - 1976 - Tragedy abroad: Annie Mae Aquash is murdered. She was the former Annie Mae Pictou of Shubenacadie First Nation in Nova Scotia.

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12 - 1755 - Chief of the Le Heve Indian tribe, Paul Laurant, speaks to the Nova Scotia Council in Halifax on a proposed peace accord.

1993 - At an Oxford, Nova Scotia, hockey game, a young Mi'kmaw player is subjected to racist remarks by some fans. Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs Guy LeBlanc asks the Mi'kmaq - Nova Scotia - Canada Tripartite Forum Sub-Committee on Human Rights to review the incident.

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14 - Kesaltimkewey Na'kwek - Valentine's Day

1990 - Feb. 14, John (Jack) Mitchell Jr, founder of the Corner Brook Indian Band dies. He was the grandson of the late Mr. Mattie Mitchell. A well -known Mi'Kmaq.

1997 - Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey signs historic Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Jurisdiction Transfer, transferring control of Mi'kmaq education from the government of Canada to the Mi'kmaq people.

15 - 1885 - Levi Poulette is born to Benjamin and Madeline (neé Louie) Poulette. He is made Prayer Leader by the Grand Council in 1906 and serves for 68 years until his death in 1974 at age 89. Two years earlier he had celebrated his 65th wedding anniversary with his wife the former Nancy Googoo.

1997 - Nova Scotia Native Women's Association hosts conference focusing on native women and self-government.

16 - On February 16, 1884 Mary Jane (Mariam Joannain as it is written in Latin) Young daughter of Valentine “Tiny” Young and Ann “Nancy” ”Nannette” Benoit is born in Clam Bank Cove. She married Edmond Jesso son of Peter Jesso and Elizabeth Barry of Sheaves Cove on September 22, 1901 in Port au Port. Two years after Edmonds accidental death due to a self-inflicted gun shot while hunting birds on the ocean cliffs on February 23, 1915 in Sheaves Cove, she married Michael Benoit, son of Michel Benoit and Desiree Laisne.

1750 - The Lords of Trade in Britain send a memo to Governor Cornwallis in which they advise him: "As to the measures which you have already taken for reducing the Indians, we entirely approve them, and wish you may have success, but as it has been found by experience in other parts of America that the gentler methods and offers of peace have more frequently prevailed with Indians than the sword"

17 - 1998 - Lawrence Paul of Millbrook First Nation is elected chief for his eighth consecutive term.

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19 - 1999 - The Mi'kmaq Resource Centre at University College of Cape Breton telecasts a Mi'kmaq Elders Language Workshop live over the Internet and for the first time Mi'kmaq can be heard all over the world. Not a pin drops!

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21 - 1978 - Delegates to the Ninth General Assembly of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians denounce Ottawa's policy regarding housing, education, and medical services for Aboriginal peoples.

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23 - 1989 - Mi'kmaq protest outside Province House to call attention to the government's failure to recognize their rights under the 1752 Treaty, the validity of their land claims, and the tax imposed on cigarettes.

24 - 1849 - The Acadian Recorder newspaper describes a delegation of Mi'kmaq chiefs in Halifax as "novel and interesting".

25 - 1872, Jacques Lejeune (James Young) passed away and is buried in Stephenville Crossing at the old Assumption Parish Cemetery. He was estimated to be between 97 and 101 years of age. He was son of Chrysostome Lejeune and Louise Marguerite Hache-Gallant. Jacques was married to Catherine Jesseau, daughter of Jean Jessaume and Marie Anne Fournier.

26 - 1980 - Reginald Maloney elected chief of Shubenacadie Reserve.

1991 - Two four year old children from Indian Brook, Kirby Marr and Adria Lewis, are found near the community after a three hour search. Missing for a total of seven and a half hours in cold winter temperatures, the children are located after community members, the fire department, and RCMP initiate search parties.

27 - 1986 - At the 5th Annual Gesigewey (Winter) Carnival at Wagmatcook, the previous year's queen, Mary Elizabeth Googoo, teams up with the new queen, Joanne Peck, to sock organizer Brian Arbuthnot with a cream pie right in the kisser!

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Acknowledgements/Sources