Pueblo of Santa Clara: Legislative Functions Excerpt

SECTION 1. Legislative power.

The legislative power shall be vested in the pueblo council, and the said power shall be exercised in accordance with, and not in conflict with, the constitution or any laws of the United States of America.

The pueblo council shall have the following rights and powers:

1. To employ legal counsel, the choice of counsel and fixing of fees to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.  
2. To prevent the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance of pueblo lands, interests in lands, or other tribal assets.
3. To negotiate with the Federal, State, and local governments, and with the councils and governing authorities of other pueblos or Indian tribes.
4. To advise the Secretary of the Interior with regard to all appropriation estimates or Federal projects for the benefit of the pueblo prior to the submission of such estimates to the Bureau of the Budget and to Congress.
5. To enact ordinances, not inconsistent with the constitution and bylaws of the pueblo, for the maintenance of law and order within the pueblo and for the punishment of members, and the exclusion of nonmembers violating any such ordinances, for the raising of revenue and the appropriation of available funds for pueblo purposes, for the regulation of trade, inheritance, land-holding, and private dealings in land within the pueblo, for the guidance of the officers of the pueblo in all their duties, and generally for the protection of the welfare of the pueblo and for the execution of all other powers vested in the pueblo by existing law: Provided, That any ordinance which affects persons who are not members of the pueblo shall not take effect until it has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior or some officer designated by him.
6. To delegate any of the foregoing powers to appropriate officers of the pueblo, reserving the right to review any action taken by virtue of such delegated power.

SEC. 2. Judicial power.

The pueblo council shall also adjudicate all matters coming before it over which it has jurisdiction. In all controversies coInIng before the pueblo council, the council shall have the right to examine all witnesses and ascertain full details of the controversy, and after the matter shall have been sufficiently commented upon by the interested parties, the council shall retire to a private place to make a decision. All of the members of the council except the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor shall have the right to vote upon a decision, and a majority shall rule. In the event of a tie, the Governor shall have the right to cast a vote, thereby breaking the tie. It shall be the duty of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor to express to the other members of the pueblo council their views regarding the case before a vote is taken.

SEC. 3. Common law of pueblo.

With respect to all matters not covered by the written constitution, bylaws, and ordinances of the pueblo of Santa Clara, nor by those laws of the United States of America which are applicable to the pueblo of Santa Clara, the customs and usages of the pueblo, civil, and criminal, as interpreted by the council, shall have the force of law.