02/03/2023
Move over Paul Bunyan, George Bonga is a REAL Minnesota legend!
Born near Duluth in 1802, Bonga was the first recorded African American birth in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. The son of an African American fur trader father and an Ojibwe mother, Bonga attended school in Montreal. When he later returned to the Great Lakes area to become a fur trader with the American Fur Company, he spoke fluent English, French and Ojibwe. While working for the company, he was hired as a guide and translator to help Lewis Cass in negotiations with the Ojibwe — his signature is on treaties made in 1820 and 1867. Bonga wrote letters on behalf of the Ojibwe to the state government about white men who treated Ojibwe trappers unfairly.
In 1842, the American Fur Company folded but Bonga continued to work as a trader. He opened a lodge on Leech Lake with his wife, where he welcomed travelers. The MNHS reports that Bonga enjoyed telling stories of early Minnesota and singing. Bonga died at Leech Lake in 1874.
đź“· Minnesota Historical Society
