The Bongas: The First Hosts of Mackinac Island

In this episode of Michigan Hidden History , Tharan and Robin uncover one of Mackinac Island’s most overlooked stories: Jean and Jeanne Bonga, a Black couple whose lives reveal a little-known chapter of slavery, freedom, and entrepreneurship on the Great Lakes frontier. The episode begins in the 1780s, when the Bongas were connected to British garrison commander Captain Daniel Robertson.…