In a landmark decision released Tuesday, the Federal Court has ruled that Metis and non-status First Nations are to be considered "Indians” under the Constitution.

"This is great news for us, that's for sure,” Rick Christianson, the president of the Yukon Metis Association, said in an interview this morning.

"But at the same time, we'll have to wait and see what happens. This is a first step of many. There's a long ways to go yet.”

Christianson said an appeal to the decision is still a possibility.

It's a little early to tell exactly what the ruling will mean for Yukon's Metis population.

However, Christianson did say there are all types of things they can now discuss at a federal level, including the right to gather, health, and education.

"The awareness and recognition by our federal government is the main step here, and that's very important to us,” he said.

According to 2006 census data, there are 800 Metis in the Yukon, representing approximately 2.6 per cent of the territory's population at the time.

The Yukon Metis Association has between 200 and 300 members, Christianson said.

He's calling on people who claim Metis status in the census to put their names forward for membership.

Currently, the association is reviewing its member's genealogies.

"It's one thing to profess Metis; you have to have the genealogy proving that you are in fact Metis,” Christianson said.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples launched the court challenge in 1999.

"For the first time since 1867, the court has said that the Government of Canada, the Crown, has the responsibility, or a fiduciary relationship as the court said, with off-reserve, non-status, Metis peoples in Canada,” Betty Ann Lavallee said in an interview today.

Lavallee is the national chief of the congress.

"They can't ignore us anymore; they can't just push us to the back and say, ‘no, you're not our responsibility; go talk to the provinces,' and the provinces can't push us and say, ‘no. no – you're Indians; go talk to the feds,' ” she said.

"We've been like a hot potato between the two, and nothing happens for our people.”

Lavallee said the next step will be sitting down with Aboriginal Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office to discuss where to go from here.

There is potential that the government may pursue a legal challenge to the decision.

"We're hoping they don't. We're hoping that instead of spending more money on needless litigation, that that money's invested into the people, and that we start addressing some of the longstanding issues for them,” she said.