Laughing Whitefish

Bill Castanier on “Laughing Whitefish” in the Lansing City Pulse

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Lansing City Pulse:

By any measure the career of John D. Voelker was a phenomenal success. He was a successful author, having written the bestseller “Anatomy of a Murder” (later made into a movie directed by Otto Preminger and starring James Stewart, Lee Remick and George C. Scott) and he was a member of the Michigan Supreme Court. But something was gnawing at him.
As a younger man, he had heard a story about an Indian woman who had, against all odds, taken on the white power structure of the Upper Peninsula’s mining industry while seeking what she thought was compensation owed to her family.

Voelker had always wanted to do a fictional treatment of this real-life case, but the success of “Anatomy” and his job as a justice had kept him too busy.

In an address to the Michigan Historical Society in 1970 he said his “neglected Indian story receded even further into the background.”

In a brash move, Voelker decided he was fed up and had enough of the “baying dogs of success” — he quit his job.
In his letter of resignation to Gov. G. Mennen Williams he wrote, “While other men can write my legal opinions (although I would debate that) they can scarcely write my books. I am sorry.”

Voelker, who wrote under the pen name Robert Traver, retreated to the Upper Peninsula, where he would spend two winters writing his Indian story. “Laughing Whitefish” was published in 1965, but soon went out of print.

Now, Michigan State University, working with the Voelker family, has reprinted the book with an introduction written by MSU College of Law Professor Matthew Fletcher, who heads the Indigenous Law and Policy Center.

In describing his book, Voelker always said it was “a basic story … rather simple” and “it was about iron ore, Indians and the infidelity to one’s own promises.”

The book tells the story of a young Indian woman, Charlotte Kawbawgam (her real name was Kobogum), who seeks compensation for her father. He had been promised a “wee fractional interest” after leading a group of mining executives to the world’s largest deposit of iron ore. Kawbawgam hires lawyer Willy Post, a newcomer to Marquette.

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Book Review of Laughing Whitefish

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, from Bill Castinier [for more on People v. Hildabridle, see this — People v Hildabridle]:

John D. Voelker, former Michigan Supreme Court justice (1956-1960) and author of The New York Times bestseller Anatomy of a Murder, called his book Laughing Whitefish “the toughest job of writing I ever tackled.”

First published in 1965 and out of print for decades, Whitefish also has been one of the toughest of Voelker’s 10 books to find. Writing under his pen name, Robert Traver, Voelker wrote five novels, three books on fishing and two books of essays and short stories.

But thanks to a chance meeting between Grace Voelker Wood, one Voelker’s sisters, and a board member of the MSU Press during a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Anatomy, a new edition of Whitefish will be published in June by the Press.

The new edition also contains an introduction written by Matthew L. M. Fletcher, associate professor of law and director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University’s College of Law, that puts the seminal historical fiction novel in context by detailing how the book was based on actual Michigan Supreme Court cases regarding Indian property rights and tribal law and customs. Fletcher is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

In a presentation to the Michigan Historical Society in 1970 about the novel, Voelker called the “basic story…rather simple.” He continued, “Most simply put, it was all about iron ore, Indians and infidelity to one’s promises.”

In the book, Voelker, writing as Traver, told the story of Charlotte Kawbawgam (in real life Kobogum), whose father, Marji Gesick, had been promised a “wee fractional interest” for his assistance in leading a group of businessmen to North America’s largest iron ore deposit. Problems resulted when neither Gesick nor Gesick’s heirs were compensated as promised.

Voelker told how he had learned of the fascinating story, which involves tribal customs, including polygamy, long before he wrote his blockbuster. But he had been derailed by his successful career and the amazing success of Anatomy, which was made into a movie shot on location in Marquette and Ishpeming.

Voelker said he adopted a pen name while he was a prosecuting attorney (1935-50) in Marquette. He was often quoted as saying, “I didn’t want the voters to think I was an author on company time.”

The lawyer and author had spent most of his life in the Upper Peninsula, when in 1957 he was tapped by Governor G. Mennen Williams to be a Supreme Court justice. He became noted for his literary-like decisions and dissents. His writing for the Court was also punctuated with his trademark sense of humor (if there is any doubt, read his writing inPeople vs Hildabride about police invading a nudist camp).

He later wrote that his “neglected Indian story receded even farther into the background.”

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Talk on John Voelker/Robert Traver’s “Laughing Whitefish” on Sept. 27

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Robert Traver’s Anatomy of a Murder, I will be giving a presentation on Traver’s novel, “Laughing Whitefish,” which is based on the three Michigan Supreme Court cases involving Marji Kobogum’s daughter Charlotte, aka Laughing Whitefish.

The presentation is at the Library of Michigan, on Sept. 27, 2008:

11:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Session A:  Laughing Whitefish
Forum Auditorium
John D. Voelker’s courtroom drama Laughing Whitefish tells the story of a young Chippewa woman’s struggle to collect a debt owed to her father by the Jackson Ore Company.  It is based on a case that went before the Michigan Supreme Court three times in the 1880s before it was resolved. This session will discuss the book, the actual Kawbawgam case and their impact on Michigan Native Americans.

Here are the legal materials in the case:

kobogum-v-jackson-iron-1889

compo-v-jackson-iron-1883

compo-v-jackson-iron-1882