George bonga biography

Ojibwe-African American fur trader and interpreter

George Bonga (August 20, 1802 – 1874) was a fur trader, entrepreneur and interpreter for the U.S. government, who was of Ojibwe and African descent, fluent in French, Ojibwemowin and English.

“Who Was George Bonga” Multidisciplinary Classroom Activi

At the age of eighteen, he served as an interpreter for Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan Territory during a treaty council with the Ojibwe at Fond du Lac near present-day Duluth, Minnesota. Bonga worked for the American Fur Company from 1820 to 1839, progressing to the role of clerk or sub-trader working under the head trader William Alexander Aitken.

In 1837, he was involved in the first criminal trial held in Minnesota when he tracked down and successfully apprehended Che-ga-wa-skung, an Ojibwe man who was wanted for murder, transporting him 250 miles (400 km) back to Fort Snelling.

In the 1850s, Bonga worked for the United States Indian agent at Leech Lake, serving as interpreter and superintendent of the government George Bonga (1802-1880) - Blackpast VIJ