Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico will change its membership rules but the specifics are up in the air, the tribe's leader said.

Gov. Walter Dasheno called the vote "historic." "This is the first time we've addressed these issues, so it's a major step for all of us," he told The Santa Fe New Mexican.

Dasheno said it will be up to the tribal council to come up with the change. It could involve extending membership to children of women who married outside of the tribe.

In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez. The court said the tribe could not be sued under the Indian Civil Rights Act by a woman whose children were denied enrollment because she married a member of a different tribe.

Men who married outside of the tribe aren't subject to the same restriction.

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Santa Clara Pueblo vote on member rules leaves loose ends (The Santa Fe New Mexican 5/2)

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