Laughing Whitefish: A Tale of Justice and Anishinaabe Custom

Robert Traver, LAUGHING WHITEFISH, Foreward, 1965, Michigan State University Press, Reprint 2011

MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06-16

14 Pages Posted: 30 Sep 2008 Last revised: 23 Nov 2010

Date Written: September 29, 2008

Abstract

Laughing Whitefish, a novel by Robert Traver, the pen name of former Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Voelker, is the fictionalized story of a case that reached the Michigan Supreme Court three times, culminating in Kobogum v. Jackson Iron Co., 43 N.W. 602 (Mich. 1889). The petitioner, Charlotte Kobogum, an Ojibwe Indian from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, brought suit to recover under a note issued to her father, Marji Gesick, by the mining company in the 1840s. The company had promised a share in the company because he had led them to one of the largest iron ore deposits in the country, the famed Jackson Mine. Despite the company's defense that Mr. Gesick was a polygamist and therefore Ms. Kobogum could not be his legitimate heir, the Michigan Supreme Court held that state courts had no right to interfere with internal, domestic relations of reservation Indians, and upheld the claim. Justice Voelker's tale is a powerful defense of the decision, and offers insights into why state courts should recognize the judgments of tribal courts even today.

Keywords: Indian tribe, customary law, polygamy, law and literature, Robert Traver

Suggested Citation

Fletcher, Matthew L. M., Laughing Whitefish: A Tale of Justice and Anishinaabe Custom (September 29, 2008). Robert Traver, LAUGHING WHITEFISH, Foreward, 1965, Michigan State University Press, Reprint 2011, MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1275391 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1275391

Matthew L. M. Fletcher (Contact Author)

University of Michigan Law School ( email )

500 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/matthew-lm-fletcher

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