George Bonga, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

George Bonga

African-American fur trader

Date of Birth: 20-Aug-1802

Place of Birth: Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Date of Death: 01-Jan-1880

Profession: fur trader

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Leo

George Bonga (August 20, 1802 – 1880) was a Black Indian fur trader, one of the first people of African descent born in the part of the Northwest Territory that later became the State of Minnesota.
He was the second son born to an African-American father, Pierre Bonga, and an Ojibwe mother.George was schooled in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, becoming fluent in French as well as Ojibwe and English.
He later became a fur trader and interpreter.
He was noted in what is now Minnesota for being, as his brother Stephen claimed, "One of the first two black children born in the state." Stephen also described them as "the first white children" born there, as the Ojibwe classified everyone who was non-native as "white".In 1837 George Bonga tracked down a suspected murderer, an Ojibwe named Che-Ga Wa Skung, and brought him back to Fort Snelling.
The ensuing criminal trial was reputedly the first in what was then part of Wisconsin Territory, and the Ojibwe man was acquitted.George Bonga was described as standing over six feet tall and weighing 200+ pounds.
Reports said that he would carry 700 pounds of furs and supplies at once.
He served as an interpreter, and was believed to have acted as a guide for governor Lewis Cass.
Well respected in the region, Bonga and his wife opened a lodge on Leech Lake after the fur trade declined.
George Bonga died in 1880.