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George Bonga (August 20, 1802 – 1880) 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.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】publisher=African American Registry )〕 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".〔("Portrait of Stephen Bonga" ), Wisconsin Historical Images, accessed 23 January 2014〕 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.〔William Sherman Savage, ''Blacks in the West,'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 1976, pp. 68-70〕 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. ==Biography== In 1802, George Bonga was born to Pierre Bonga, who was black, and his Ojibwe wife. His father, Pierre was the son of Jean and Marie-Jeannette Bonga, slaves who had been brought to the fort on Mackinac Island by their master, Captain Daniel Robertson, a British officer who commanded it from 1782 to his death in 1787. The couple were freed at his death and legally married. Bonga and his wife opened the first hotel on the island. Pierre Bonga worked as a fur trader with the Anishinaabe near Duluth, Minnesota. His first son Stephen Bonga, born 1799, also became a notable fur trader and translator in the region. The sons had a sister Marguerite, born in 1797-98. As Pierre Bonga was a relatively successful trader, he sent George to Montreal for school. When the youth returned to the Great Lakes region, he spoke fluent English, French, as well as Ojibwe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Bonga」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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