It's been a 146-year struggle but Manitoba Métis Federation's president has a message for Louis Riel.

"We are coming home Louis Riel, we are coming home with our victory," David Chartrand said.

On Tuesday, Chartrand signed an agreement in Ottawa after Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett was given the "green light" to negotiate a land claim dispute from 1870 which ended the Red River resistance.

In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government failed to follow through on a promise it made to the Métis people under the Manitoba Act, which created the province and brought it into Confederation.

The Manitoba Act promised to set aside 5,565 square kilometres of land for 7,000 children of the Red River Métis. The land grants were meant to give the Métis a head start in the race for land in the new province. However, it took 15 years and the federal government ultimately distributed the land through a random lottery, destroying the dream of a Métis homeland. It also meant a lot of the good land went to settlers and some Métis families didn't receive anything.

"I was quite emotional in the sense of finally reaching this level," Chartrand said.

"We waited 146 years for somebody to hear us, somebody to listen to us. We had to use the courts to get to that level unfortunately but we are finally there."

The agreement includes guaranteed scheduled meetings to make decisions and work out some issues that still need to be negotiated, including a financial settlement for land that wasn't given to the Métis.

On Wednesday the Métis flag will fly at Parliament Hill to celebrate the historical moment, but Chartrand will be bringing the newly signed agreement to a place closer to his heart — Louis Riel's grave in the churchyard of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral.

"He is going to see tomorrow, when I bring it home to his grave site, even though he lost everything, it was not in vain," Chartrand said.

"It will be a great day for the Métis nation."