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The contours of the new settlement, announced in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland, the seat of the national opioid litigation, are similar to an agreement that the companies struck with state and local governments last summer.

If, as expected, most tribes sign on, the deal would be notable for its size as well as its acknowledgment of the 574 federally recognized tribes as a distinct litigating entity. Their voices have traditionally been excluded or downplayed in earlier national settlements involving the states, such as the landmark settlement with the big tobacco companies in the 1990s.

Roughly 15 percent of the total will go toward legal fees and other litigation costs, but the bulk will be directed to addiction treatment and prevention programs, to be overseen by tribal health care experts.

“My tribe has already committed to use any proceeds to confront the opioid crisis,” said Chairman Aaron Payment of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa in Michigan, which has 45,000 members. “The impact of the opioid epidemic is pervasive, such that tribes need all the resources we can secure to make our tribal communities whole once again.”

A signature development in this deal is the timetable, which is far faster than the one tentatively agreed to last summer with states and local governments. Johnson & Johnson will pay the tribes its $150 million portion over two years, starting as soon as the deal is finalized; the distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — will pay $440 million over six and a half years.