Among Indian tribes, a division over gay marriage "I realized that I do have the power to change my situation," said Purser, 30, a commercial seafood diver from Olympia, Wash. With more Native Americans making similar demands, the Suquamish tribe now is one of three that has signed off on marriage by same-sex couples. Legal experts say it's another example of tribes using their sovereignty to pass laws that apply only on their land. With gay marriage legal in 11 states, legal analysts predict more tribes will follow, giving new rights to what many Native Americans call "two-spirit" individuals, after the belief that they carry both a feminine and masculine spirit. But as Americans await a landmark gay marriage ruling from the Supreme Court this summer, the issue is causing division in Indian country. Most recently, in March, the council of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan voted 5 to 4 to approve a gay marriage law. Just last year, the tribe's leadership had voted 5 to 4 to reject same-sex marriages. On the same day the law took effect, two Navy veterans became the first couple - and so far, the only - to take advantage of it: Tim LaCroix, 53, a tribal member, married Gene Barfield, 60, his partner of 30 years. Opponents are criticizing the new law in the current tribal elections. "God created woman for man, and when you try to rewrite creation you can expect judgment to fall on your people," said tribal elder Doug Emery. He ran for the tribal council but lost in the recent primary, though he said he hopes there's enough turnover to scrap the law after the June general election. John Keshick III, a member of the council who voted against gay marriage, said the tribe should accept the outcome. "To me, it was a close vote, and I voted the way I was brought up," he said. But to me, it's kind of like water over the dam - it's done. Tribes have long wrestled with the issue. In one of the first votes, the Navajo Nation Council in 2005 banned same-sex marriages and unions between close blood relatives. Three years later, the Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon became the first in the nation to approve a gay marriage law. But with 566 federally recognized tribes, the majority have stayed silent. Ron Whitener, executive director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, predicted that would change quickly if the Supreme Court or Congress threw out the Defense of Marriage Act and made gay marriage a universal right. The law allows states to not recognize gay marriages from other states.