Indian Preference
Open-knowledge reference entry
Indian Preference, also known as Indian Preference in hiring, refers to employment policies which aim to increase representation of American Indians within certain workplaces, particularly within organizations dedicated to the welfare of American Indians. Not all federal agencies use Indian Preference. Indian Preference is used by US federal agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Applicants for Indian Preference must be citizens of federally recognized American Indian tribes, or descendants of those tribes who meet specific criteria.
History
Indian Preference was first developed during the New Deal period, evolving from the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The intent of Indian Preference was to improve Indian self-government, self-representation, and welfare.
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that Indian Preference is not a form of racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as being American Indian is not a race, but a political status.
Federal agencies that use Indian Preference include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, the United States Office of Personnel Management, the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the White House Initiative for American Indian and Alaskan Native Education.
“Indian Preference” enters the record as open-knowledge reference entry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Indian, Preference and Open-knowledge can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Indian Preference” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Indian, Preference and Open-knowledge provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q135012770. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1934 and 1964.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Indian Preference”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Indian Preference primary sources, Indian Preference archive and Indian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Indian Preference”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Indian Preference” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.