Are you protected from discrimination on an Indian Reservation?

Broadly speaking, federal protections against discrimination in the workplace serve Americans living in all 50 states. However, discrimination rules can be quite different if that discrimination took place on an Indian reservation. Many of these reservations exist as entities separate from the states, pursuant to federal law and treaties between the reservation and the federal government. As a result, victims of workplace discrimination on reservations often have to go through a different process in order to seek recourse.
While Congress does have the power to create and enforce federal law on Indian reservations, Congress also has the power to exempt Indian reservations from those same laws. For example, Indian reservations are exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. These two acts combined comprise main sources of federal law governing race, gender, and disability discrimination in the workplace.
However, if you are a victim of discrimination on an Indian reservation, you may still have recourse. Some reservations voluntarily allow themselves to be regulated by the federal statutes from which they would otherwise be exempt, and even more reservations enter into agreements with the states in which they reside and voluntarily subject themselves to applicable state law protections for workers. You’re starting point, and best bet for a favorable outcome regarding your discrimination claim, is to become familiar with the constitution and laws of your particular reservation; see what, if any, local reservation laws have been violated; and investigate what administrative and judicial venues exist under reservation law. Often, a reservation will have its own administrative and judicial systems, with investigators, judges, and other judicial officials, to resolve employment disputes.