Distribution of the $10B Robinson Huron Treaty past annuities settlement finally begins

It's early Friday morning in Sagamok Anishnawbek and community members are heading to the polls to elect a band council.

It's a big day for this First Nation nestled in the Lacloche foothills – just over an hour west of Sudbury. Members are choosing their leadership and they're receiving their share of the historic $10 billion dollar settlement announced last year in the Robinson Huron Treaty past annuities case.

That's money Canada and Ontario agreed to pay after more than a decade of litigation which culminated in a Supreme Court decision ruling the Crown had to make things right after having made 'a mockery' of the treaty over the past 150 years.

The case centred around a failed promise to increase annual payments to the Anishnaabe signatories according to the wealth generated from the land.

The annuities were capped in 1875, and to this day, residents of the 21 Anishnaabe communities in the treaty territory still receive $4 per person per year – despite the sizeable profits generated in the mining, lumber and fishing industries.

Planning the distribution of the settlement for past annuities has been a complicated process involving consultations and tough conversations about what should be collective and what should go directly to individuals.

There was also a legal challenge over lawyer fees threatening to delay the distribution timeline, but the day has arrived and the settlement distribution has officially begun.

As Sagamok members filtered in and out of their polling station, there was a lot of talk about the settlement. The distribution was set to begin at noon, but community members are receiving the money at different times depending on where they bank.

«I'm absolutely hopeful for our community,» said Nicole