Leaders of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund say they have reached a proposed $10 billion settlement with the governments of Ontario and Canada over unpaid annuities for using their lands.

The fund, which represents the 21 Robinson Huron First Nations, announced on Saturday that the proposal will resolve claims only tied to past unpaid annuities that stretch back more than 170 years.

Signed in 1850, the Robinson-Huron Treaty committed to paying the First Nations groups annual amounts tied to resource revenues.

But the annuity only increased once in 1875 when it rose from about $1.70 per person to $4 per person, and has not increased since.

The proposed out-of-court settlement will see the federal government pay half the sum, while the other half will come from the province of Ontario.

Spokesperson Duke Peltier, representative of the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, noted the 21 First Nations came together in 2012 to seek a settlement through the courts, but that ultimately one was reached at a negotiation table after talks began in April 2022.