George Bonga (August 20, 1802 – 1880) was a fur trader, entrepreneur and interpreter for the U.S. government, who was of Ojibwe and Black descent, fluent in French, Ojibwemowin and English. 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 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.