In the case of Delaware Tribal Business Committee et al. v. Weeks et al., 1976, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a group of Delaware Indians were not entitled to share in funds awarded by Congress for lands taken from them in Kansas and Oklahoma during the 19th century. The court held that these particular Delawares had severed their tribal relations and become citizens under an 1860 treaty with the United States, thus forfeiting any claim they might have had to further compensation as members of their former tribe. This decision was based on previous rulings which established that when individual Indians separate from their tribes and accept citizenship, they relinquish certain rights associated with tribal membership including claims against government for past wrongs done to the tribe.

In the dissenting opinion for Delaware Tribal Business Committee et al. v. Weeks et al., Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stewart and Marshall, argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings regarding Indian affairs and ignored Congress' intent in passing relevant legislation. They contended that the 1866 statute did not extinguish all of the Delaware Tribe’s rights to land in Kansas but only those lands they had failed to cultivate or occupy as homesites within two years of allotment. The dissent also criticized the majority for relying on a single ambiguous phrase from an 1854 treaty rather than considering it within its broader historical context, which would have shown that Congress intended to preserve some tribal property rights even after individual members received their allotments. Furthermore, they disagreed with how much weight was given to subsequent events like state court decisions and Congressional silence when interpreting original legislative intent.