Harry Daniels's sons 'overwhelmed' after Supreme Court backs Mtis rights

The two sons of the man who started a fight for equality for Canada'sFirst Nations people in 1999 are celebrating both thelandmarkSupreme Court ruling yesterday and the work of their late father in having his "lifelong dream" realized.

"One of the first emotions is monumentalit goes to show that my father's work has finally paid off," AlexWightman-Danielssaid from Reginaabout Harry Daniels, who died in 2004.

"His lifelong dream to find equality has finally been reached."

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Canada's top court ruled Thursdaythat non-status Indians andMtisare considered Indiansunder Section 91(24) of the 1867 Constitutional Act. The ruling extends the federal government's responsibilities to approximately 200,000Mtisand 400,000 non-status First Nationspeople who are not affiliated with specific reserves.

Wightman-Daniels and Gabriel Daniels aregrateful for the hard work of their father, who wasa prominentMtisleader in Saskatchewan.

He filed the case in court in 1999, seeking to haveMtis people and non-status Indians included in the federal government's definition of Indians. Known asDaniels vs. Canada, the case went to trial in 2011 and final arguments were heard in 2015 ahead of the top court ruling.

Without this clarity, indigenous communities were in a "jurisdictional wasteland with significant and obvious disadvantaging consequences," the ruling said. The result was that financially, Mtis and non-status Indians were deprived of significant funding for programs, services and other benefits.

Speaking to CBC News in his father's buckskin jacket, Wightman-Daniels said he's proud to see the fruits of his father's hard work and passion for change.

"There's no real words that can describe what kind of feelings many of us are going through. It's very overwhelming and it's going to be interesting what happens in the future," he said. "I hope this accomplishes equality and that's what we're all looking forwe all want to be identified and equality is the next step."

Gabriel Danielswas in Ottawa for the ruling, joined by the head of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Dwight Dorey.

"I'm overwhelmed and ecstatic, and I wish my father were here to see this," said Daniels outside the court. "He'd probably do a jig right now."

Mtis and non-status Indians have long argued that because neither the provinces nor Ottawa have been willing to accept jurisdiction, they have fallen through the cracks.