First Nations signatories of one of Canada’s founding treaties are set to start a landmark court action Tuesday against the federal and provincial governments on what they say is a failure to live up to terms of a deal made more than 150 years ago.

Nearly two dozen First Nations fall under the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850, a vast territory encompassing 92,463 square kilometres in the middle of Ontario stretching from Sudbury to the shores of Lakes Superior and Huron and points north.

In exchange for use of those lands by the crown, indigenous people were told they would be paid $2 a year with regular increases as profits from the land grew, said Mike Restoule, chairperson of the Robinson Huron Treaty Trust Fund.

But there has been only one annuity increase of $2 in 1874 and nothing since, even though the area contains vast mining, forestry and land resources that corporations and the government have profited from for decades, said Restoule.

Currently, the 24,000 to 30,000 descendants of the Ojibway Indians covered under the treaty receive $4 a year each.

Failure to make regular annuity increases means the First Nations are seeking restitution and a clearer understanding of future payments.

While a figure between $500 million and $1 billion is not out of the question concerning how much is owed, Roger Jones, a member of the Robinson Huron legal team, said they want a full accounting of profits made from the lands before arriving at a firm number.

The Ojibway affected by this treaty have tried to seek a fairer deal from both levels of government since 1852.

Chief Shingwaukonse of Garden River near Sault Ste. Marie, who was known as a grand chief of the Ojibway Indians, first tried to complain to the Crown 162 years ago that the terms of the deal were not adequate, said Jones.

Shingwaukonse’s complaints went ignored.

“We’ve been at this for a long time,” Jones said.

For years, First Nations people feared complaining further due to a general mistrust of Indian agents and provisions in the Indian Act that prevented people from utilizing legal services to prosecute claims, said Jones.

However, in 1982 after the Constitution Act passed, recognizing existing aboriginal treaties, the effort gained steam once more and discussions of a court case began.

A statement of claim should be filed in Sudbury on Tuesday, said Jones. This is the second time they have served notice to both Ottawa and Queen’s Park. “We asked them to meet with us and not go through the courts. They didn’t comply,” said Restoule.

When asked about any progress concerning Robinson Huron, Scott Cavan, a spokesperson for the provincial aboriginal affairs ministry acknowledged Ontario was given written notice of the potential claim on Sept. 12, 2012, but no statement of claim was actually received.

The federal government did not return calls to the Star Monday.

In this time of fiscal restraint and uneasy relations between First Nations people and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, this case could have sweeping implications.

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A court decision could possibly affect numbered treaties across Canada with annuity payments that haven’t been adjusted since the 19th century, said Robert Janes, an aboriginal and constitutional legal specialist based in British Columbia. He is not involved in the Robinson Huron case.

“As a general matter, I think the courts will be attracted to these annuity arguments, within reason, because it just looks wrong,” said Janes.

For example, in Treaty 3 (which includes parts of northern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba), every year the government gives out $5 bills to the people covered under the treaty. It has been the same since 1873 and there has never been an adjustment for inflation, he said.

The Robinson Huron Treaty was five years in the making, signed after British representatives set out by canoe to all the communities living on the land they wanted to use. Historical records note the difficulties of travel and how epidemics of cholera impeded progress.

“Basically, these guys said, ‘Look we aren’t really buying anything from you. We are just looking at a couple of mines, here and there, but for the most part you’ll keep your land, you’ll be better off, don’t worry about it,’ ” said Janes.

William Benjamin Robinson, a provincial politician, followed the representatives to negotiate the terms of the treaty on behalf of the Crown. He was surprised to discover a non-Indian, who acted as an adviser to the aboriginal people, had told the chiefs that those in the south, in the U.S. territories, were being paid for land use, he said.

The 1850 treaty states: “Robinson, on behalf of Her Majesty, who desires to deal liberally and justly with all her subjects, further promises and agrees, that should the Territory hereby ceded by the parties of the second part at any future period produce such an amount as will enable the government of this province, without incurring loss, to increase the annuity hereby secured to them, then and in that case the same shall be augmented from time to time, provided that the amount paid to each individual shall not exceed the sum of 1 pound provincial currency in any one year, or such further sum as Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to order.”

This essentially means that if the government is getting more out of this agreement than they planned, they would pay the Indians more, Janes said.

“There is no doubt they are getting more than they ever paid,” he said.

The government will most likely try to defend itself on the 1 pound issue, he added. “That is just like the $5 annuity. Can it be right, that at a time when no one was thinking about inflation and the Indians were not involved in a money economy and weren’t used to negotiating leases, would they agree to an annuity that would be eaten away by inflation?” he asked.

“Most courts are going to look at this and say there is something wrong,” said Janes.