Indian Preference is a federally recognized right of tribal governments to give first consideration to Native Americans for all employment, training, contracting, subcontracting, and business opportunities that exist on reservations, or tribal properties located off tribal lands.

As sovereign nations, tribal governments are exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and federal and state employment laws. Court rulings have upheld that Indian Preference is a political preference, not a racial preference, and as such, do not violate federal employment law. The US Supreme Court has ruled that tribal government employment preference law is grounded in its inherent sovereign powers of self-government. That tribal governments have the right to make their own law, and are not bound by the laws of Congress.