Métis Scrip Records

Commissions

Manitoba and North-West Territories Commission

Scrip Certificates

Dept. of the Interior, RG 15, Series D II 8e, Certificates for Scrip, 1885-1906, 3.15 m, vols. 1373 to 1386.

Certificates (series numbers D3001 to D3300; E3201 to E3658; and F1601 to F1991) issued by the Commissioners to Métis residents who were entitled to partake in the distribution of scrip. The certificates give the place and date of issue, name of the recipient, the amount and nature of the scrip, and the name of the Commissioner. The records are organized by certificate number. Finding aid 15-23 serves as a general index to these records. It gives the location (i.e., the volume number) of each series of certificates (D,E, and F), but it does not identify individuals to which the certificates were issued.

To find the certificate issued to a particular claimant under the Manitoba and North-West Commission, when the registration number is unknown, researchers have three choices. They can either consult finding aid FA15-21, parts 1 - 15, the claims register, or the delivery register. Finding aid FA15-21 was originally designed as an alphabetical index to individual applications in RG 15, series D II 8c (see elsewhere), but it also provides - among other things - a synopsis of the information available on each application form, including the number of the scrip certificate issued by the Commission. The claims register, RG 15, volume 1496 (described elsewhere), is an alphabetical index of all claimants who were awarded scrip by J.A.J. McKenna. The index will also provide researchers with the scrip certificate number assigned to an individual claim. The delivery register, RG 15, volume 1520 (described elsewhere), is an alphabetical index of all scrip delivered to Métis claimants in Manitoba and the North-West Territories. Each entry in the index records all the registration numbers of all records filed under a numerical system, including each claimant's scrip certificate.

Once the certificate registration number is known, researchers can then refer to finding aid 15-23 to find the volume number in RG 15 where the original document is stored. If the scrip certificate is not found in this series, it is always possible that a copy was placed in the applicant's case file, if such was created by the department. The case files were placed in the central registry of the Dominion Lands Branch, and are now retained by Library and Archives Canada as RG 15, series D II 1 (described elsewhere). If a case file was created for a particular claim, the file number will be indicated in the delivery registers (RG 15, volumes 1519 or 1520). To find the case file number, researchers should refer to the claims register (RG 15, volume 1517, described elsewhere) or to the delivery register (RG 15, volume 1520, described elsewhere).