TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (KTUL) — Broken treaties aren’t exactly breaking news for Oklahoma’s native people. So why is the Cherokee Nation launching a new legal battle now?

There are about 200 years worth of reasons and an unknown sum of money tribal leaders say the feds owe them.

“Every treaty that the United States Government has entered into with the Cherokee Nation has been broken,” said Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr.

The Treaty of New Echota, better known as the Trail of Tears, forced the Cherokees from the southeastern U.S. The tribe relocated in Tahlequah, Okla.

“When were were removed to this area we were granted certain land as part of the treaty to remove us,” Hoskin said. “And part of the government’s responsibility through those treaties and through statutes is to take care of that land for our benefit.”

Over time, however, the U.S. began taking control of everything, even the nation’s government.

“The president would appoint chiefs for the tribe so that those chiefs could carry out those legal duties that the United States wanted them to carry out,” said Secretary of Natural Resources Sara Hill.

Hill says prior to allotment and Oklahoma statehood the Cherokees owned about 14 million acres of land. That land was broken up and taken from the Cherokee Nation, leaving the tribe with less than five million acres today.

“They are supposed to be making decisions about what is best for the tribe but they were really making decisions about what was best for the United States at the time,” Hill said.

Land, timber and other assets were sold. That money was supposed to go to the nation or be used for its benefit.

“We don’t have an accounting for that,” Hill said.

Hill says that is the biggest reason for the lawsuit against the U.S.

“It is more like opening your checkbook and realizing that there have been a lot of withdrawals and you don’t know what happened, no one can explain where your money went or in this case where your assets are,” Hill said.

As early as the 1830s, the U.S. was required to create an accounting system for the Cherokee Nation’s money, but almost 200 years later it still hasn’t happened.

“We can’t look any further into the past than what we had control over,” Hill said.

All they ask is the United States make good on its promises.

“We are strong, we have the resources to hold the federal government accountable,” said Hoskin Jr. “That hasn’t always been the case but it is certainly the case now and under the leadership of Chief Baker and we are holding them accountable through this lawsuit.”

The Cherokee Nation says it hopes to have a stronger relationship with the federal government following this lawsuit but two centuries of mistrust and broken treaties won’t fade quickly.