in 1989, the john d. voelker foundation was founded by lawyers fred baker jr. and richard vander veen iii, who borrowed $100,000 to start the foundation. voelker donated several signed editions of his books to the foundation, and charles kuralt once served as a board member. the group awards scholarships to native americans who want to attend law school. these scholarships are funded through proceeds on special editions of "laughing whitefish", a novel voelker wrote about a case involving a chippewa woman from the 19th century that reached the michigan supreme court. the foundation also gives out the robert traver fly fishing fiction award.