Santa Clara Pueblo et al. v. Martinez et al.

Decided May 15, 1978. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-682 · 436 U.S. 49 (1978) · Cited 1,620 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Talton v. Mayes · 163 U.S. 376 (1896)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana · 424 U.S. 382 (1976)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• United States v. Kagama · 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, Inc. · 396 U.S. 229 (1969)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. National Assn. of Railroad Passengers · 414 U.S. 453 (1974)
• Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Rigsby · 241 U.S. 33 (1916)
• United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. · 309 U.S. 506 (1940)
• Puyallup Tribe, Inc. v. Department of Game of Washington · 433 U.S. 165 (1977)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• United States v. King · 395 U.S. 1 (1969)
• Morton v. Ruiz · 415 U.S. 199 (1974)
• United States v. Wheeler · 435 U.S. 313 (1978)
• Cherokee Nation v. Hitchcock · 187 U.S. 294 (1902)
• Calhoon v. Harvey · 379 U.S. 134 (1964)
• United States v. Memphis Cotton Oil Co. · 288 U.S. 62 (1933)
• Choate v. Trapp · 224 U.S. 665 (1912)
• Ex Parte Crow Dog · 109 U.S. 556 (1883)
• Jones v. Meehan · 175 U.S. 1 (1899)
• Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Barbour · 421 U.S. 412 (1975)
• Antoine v. Washington · 420 U.S. 194 (1975)
• Turner v. United States · 248 U.S. 354 (1919)
• United States v. Quiver · 241 U.S. 602 (1916)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community · 572 U.S. 782 (2014)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle · 579 U.S. 59 (2016)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• Iowa Mutual Insurance v. LaPlante · 480 U.S. 9 (1987)
• Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. · 523 U.S. 751 (1998)
• National Farmers Union Insurance v. Crow Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 845 (1985)
• Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe · 455 U.S. 130 (1982)
• Duro v. Reina · 495 U.S. 676 (1990)
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl · 570 U.S. 637 (2013)
• Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta · 597 U.S. 629 (2022)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
• Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla. · 498 U.S. 505 (1991)
• Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C. · 476 U.S. 877 (1986)
• Rice v. Cayetano · 528 U.S. 495 (2000)
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin · 599 U.S. 382 (2023)
• United States v. Mitchell · 463 U.S. 206 (1983)
• Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington · 442 U.S. 560 (1979)
• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• Nevada v. Hicks · 533 U.S. 353 (2001)
• New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe · 462 U.S. 324 (1983)
• El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie · 526 U.S. 473 (1999)
• C & L Enterprises Inc. v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma · 532 U.S. 411 (2001)
• Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. · 554 U.S. 316 (2008)
• South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe · 522 U.S. 329 (1998)
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas · 596 U.S. 685 (2022)
• Upper Skagit Tribe v. Lundgren · 584 U.S. 554 (2018)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).