In the case of Delaware Indians v. Cherokee Nation in 1903, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with resolving a dispute between two Native American tribes over land rights. The Delaware tribe had previously purchased lands from the Cherokee nation and sought to have these lands set apart for their exclusive use. They argued that they were entitled to this under an agreement made in 1866, which they claimed gave them status as a separate political entity within the territory of the Cherokees. However, the court ruled against them stating that while Delawares did purchase lands from Cherokees and lived among them, it did not make them a distinct group or 'tribe' within Cherokee territory according to federal law standards at that time. Therefore, they could not claim separate tribal existence or demand partitioning of land based on such grounds.

In the dissenting opinion for Delaware Indians v. Cherokee Nation, it was argued that the majority's decision failed to adequately consider and respect prior treaties between the U.S. government and Native American tribes. The dissent emphasized that these agreements should be interpreted as they would have been understood by the tribes at their signing, not through a modern lens or with an eye towards current policy preferences. It was also noted that while Congress has broad powers over Indian affairs, this does not extend to unilaterally altering or ignoring established treaty rights without clear evidence of intent to do so. Furthermore, it was contended that there were factual errors in how lower courts had assessed whether certain lands were part of a reservation under tribal control or 'surplus' lands available for non-Indian settlement.