| Paper scrip, an equivalent to money, was first issued by the Government of Canada to the Métis of Manitoba in July 1876. The scrip was financial compensation for the relinquishment of any title the Métis had to the former Rupert's Land due to their Native ancestry. Although scrip carried a cash value, in this case $20, it could only be used to buy Crown land for homesteading. A black market in Métis scrip developed across western Canada in the late 19th century when traders sometimes offered Métis families only a fraction of the scrip's true value. RG 15 vol. 1387, note 8 |