More reaction on the Robinson-Huron Treaty court decision announced late Friday.

The presiding judge says it's a living document and not a one-time agreement.

21 first nations in Ontario now stand to benefit as this will affect their annuities that paid out of revenues from resource development.

Four dollars a year was a pretty good deal back in 1874.

"At that time, I would imagine it was a pretty significant jump as far as a sharing of revenues, said Duke Peltier of the Wikwemikoong Unceded Territory. 

"We expected that level, that quality of life to continue even after the treaty,” said Dean Sayers of the Batchewana First Nation.

But it didn't and today, that same four dollars, is only pocket change. Especially when you have to split it 21 ways.

"We were intentional in our awareness of what we had reserved for ourselves. And we would expect to share in the bounty of our lands as we were in the habit of doing," said Chief Dean Sayers.

And after a four year legal fight, that itself was decades in the making.

A judge agreed the province hasn't kept up its end of the bargain and it needs to start paying more than just a couple of twoonies to its treaty partners.

The judge didn't attach a dollar figure to her ruling but it would likely need to jump several thousand per cent going by Bank of Canada inflation rates alone. Maybe more important than the money is the precedent this decision sets, one that could have implications for every other treaty.

"The courts have honoured our Anishnabek perspective and honoured Anishnabe law and placed it on equal footing before the foreign court systems," said Duke Peltier.

Meaning the first nations law carries the same weight as the crowns, a crucial argument in any future treaty battles.

"I think it would be important for the crowns to accept the decision, not to appeal, and sit down in good faith,” said David Nahweghbow, the lawyer for treaty members.

The table is set and first nations won't say how big of a settlement they're looking for. It's safe to say the province won't find it under a couch cushion.