Council for Tribal Employment Rights

TERO National ConventionTERO stands for Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance or Office. TERO Ordinances require that all employers who are engaged in operating a business on reservations give preference to qualified Indians in all aspects of employment, contracting and other business activities. TERO Offices were established and empowered to monitor and enforce the requirements of the tribal employment rights ordinance.The primary purpose of the TERO program is to enforce tribally enacted Indian Preference law to insure that Indian/Alaska Native people gain their rightful share to employment, training, contracting, subcontracting, and business opportunities on and near reservations and native villages.A Tribes authority to enact and enforce an Indian/Native employment preference law is grounded in its inherent sovereign status. This legal doctrine is the most basic principle of Indian law and is supported by a host of Supreme Court decisions. Inherent sovereign powers derive from the principle that certain powers do not necessarily come from delegated powers granted by express acts of Congress, but are inherent powers of a limited sovereign that have never been taken away. Tribes have a basic relationship with the federal government as sovereign powers. This is recognized in both treaties and federal statues. The sovereignty of tribes has been limited from time to time by treaties and federal legislation; however, what has not been expressly limited remains within tribal sovereignty.