Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez in the Evolution of Federal Law

Few Indian law decisions have evoked as much scholarly attention as Santa Clara Pueblo.1 Shepard's pulls up over 1000 law review references, and Google reports almost 3,000,000 hits.2 It is a major case in all Indian law treatises and casebooks and is important in several other books.3 Most analyze the decision as an event and focus on its principal holding, denying a federal cause of action for civil enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act.4 Policy discussions parse tribal sovereignty and discrimination against women.