A fun read. ( )

Laughing Whitefish was printed in 1965, and takes place in the latter part of the 1800s, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As with Traver's better-known novel, Anatomy of a Murder, it features a young lawyer, almost fresh out of law school, and an old codger who has drinking problems. The old guy, in this case, is Cassius Wendell, and he brings young Willy (William Poe, age 26) his first real case. And what a case it is.

Charlotte Kawbawgam, aka Laughing Whitefish, wants to sue the Jackson Mining Company to obtain shares in the mining company that had been promised to her father, Marji Kawbawgam, via a written contract. Marji had led white explorers to a rich iron ore deposit that became the foundation of the Jackson company, and was the first iron ore discovered in the U.P.

There are many difficulties with the case. It is several years after Marji's death, so there is a question of timeliness. Charlotte is the daughter of Marji's second wife, and there is some question of whether he was ever divorced from the first, so there is a question of eligibility for inheritance. There was an offer from the company to settle the claim some years ago but Marji did not take it, so there is a question of whether the claim is still valid.

The story of the people - Willy, Cash, and Charlotte - is simple and not original. They go to battle against the big bad mining company with barely a prayer. The background and details of the actual case are, however, compelling. The legal case is based on actual cases that went all the way to the state Supreme Court. The essence of the actual cases is the same as in the novel. It is therefore especially interesting to read the intricacies of the law involved.

The primary issue is how an American Indian is to be treated in a state court. Should the laws of the state override the customs and rules of the tribe? It's complicated.

This book has a foreward by Matthew L.M. Fletcher, in which he dissects the actual cases and compares them to the cases in the story, from a legal standpoint. His foreward is well-documented with a list of cites at the end. Because he delves into the entire story in his analysis, my sister suggested that I skip the foreward until after I'd read the book, which I did. I think that's a good idea, even though I am not sure it would have upset my enjoyment of the story in any case. ( )

5697. Laughing Whitefish, by Robert Traver (read 27 Jun 2020) This is a very readable fiction published in 1965,. It tells the story of an equity case, loosely based on a real case, the citations for which are 12 NW 901, and 16 NW 295 and 43 NW 604.. Once in the book the trial started I was very interested in the story, which was a case involving Indian custom--the trial being laid in 19th century Michigan--and the effectiveness of such Indian custom . ( )

Plot reminiscent of Amistad: young, untested lawyer takes on case pitting rights of oppressed minority against powerful interests and apparently hopeless odds. Period setting (upstate Michigan in the 1870s). Despite being at bottom a sermon about the injustices done to Native Americans, Traver's story is very well told, with superior characterisation, plot-development, and evocation of the landscape. Sensitive treatment of Native issues struck me as remarkable in a book written fifty years ago.