death_date birth_place birth_date image article_title name occupation
1880 near modern duluth , minnesota 20 august 1802 george_bonga . png george bonga
 george bonga fur trader
george bonga

george bonga -lrb- august 20 , 1802 -- 1880 -rrb- 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 son of pierre bonga and an ojibwe mother .
george was schooled in montreal , canada , becoming fluent in french as well as ojibwe and 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 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 minnesota , 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 .
