3. Scrip

With the decline of the fur trade and buffalo hunt, many Métis were in a desperate need for money. Scrip was often sold by its holders to keep families from starving.

Two thirds of the Métis people had moved out of the Province of Manitoba by 1884. Some relocated to the north and the USA. A majority moved to Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Métis resumed their demands for a land base in the Northwest; however, the federal government again ignored their petitions.

The Métis were expected to apply for land as homesteaders. They wanted to settle on the land as a group. However, the government wanted to avoid large concentrations of Métis people in one area. Frustrated, the Métis turned again to Louis Riel.

By the spring of 1885, the Canadian Government through the military engaged the Métis of Batoche into battle. Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont were appointed leaders who helped the Métis resist the military. This conflict is known today as the Northwest Resistance.

After the Resistance, land grants and scrip were given to the Métis of the Northwest between 1876 and 1921 under the provisions of the Dominion Lands Act. Again, most of the Métis parted with their land and money scrip for a fraction of its true value. While some Métis voluntarily relinquished their scrip, the majority parted with theirs through force or illegal methods.

The scrip period ended around 1923. The federal government believed it had extinguished the Aboriginal title of the Métis in the west. However, approximately 90 percent of the allotted land went to banks and speculators.