Search This Blog

Thursday, August 21, 2014

"George Bonga"{Augusta 20,1802-1880}

o
Was a fur trader of African American and Ojibwe descent,one of the first African Americans born in what is now Minnesota.He was the second of of Pierre Bonga and an Ojibwe mama.George was schooled in Montreal,Canada,becoming fluent in French as well as Ojibwe & English.He later became a fur trader and interpreter.He was noted in Minnesota for being,as his brother Stephen claimed,"One of the first 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 tracked down a suspected murderer,an Ojibwe named Che-Ga Skung,and brought him back to Fort Snelling.The ensuing criminal trial was reputedly the first in Minnesota,and the Ojibwe man was acquitted.
George was described as standing over six feet tall and weighting 200+pounds.Reports said that he would carry 700 pounds of
furs and supplies at once.He serve as an interpreter,and was believed to have acted as a guide for governor Lewis Cass.Well respected in the region,George and his wife,opened a lodge on Leech Lake after the fur trade declined.

No comments:

Post a Comment