Métis Scrip Commission

Métis scrip was created by the federal government to extinguish Métis rights to land so that Canada could lawfully settle the land for the homesteaders.

The government issued “scrips” were transferrable certificates which acknowledged land titles or a money equivalent.  From 1876 to 1902, scrip was handed out by scrip commissions, which followed the treaty negotiators and travelled to various Métis communities in Western Canada.  For more information, consult:  https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/scrip/

Thus, it was in 1900 that the Alberta/Assiniboia Scrip Commission met in Lac La Biche.  The commissioners were James A.J. McKenna and James Walker who took applications and, in most cases, issued scrip certificates:

• 751 individual Scrip Applications were made
• 633 of those applications were for money scrip
• 118 of the applications were for land scrip

A “Metis Scrip in Alberta” booklet (https://albertametis.com/app/uploads/2021/05/RCMR-Scrip-Booklet-2018-150dpi.pdf ) was created by the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research (RCMR), housed within the Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta.  It provides details for Lac la Biche.

Lawrence Barkwell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_J._Barkwell) in the following link, listed the Lac La Biche Métis Scrip Claims applicants from the 1900 Lac La Biche Scrip Commission, which in a way is like a census for that year:  https://www.academia.edu/39261796/Lac_La_Biche_Metis_Scrip_Claims.  You will need to create an account to look at the records online or to download the file.