Excerpts from "The Forgotten People" in the "relevant resources" section below detail the alienation of Metis people from their land through the Manitoba Act and processes of scrip certificate distribution. In 1886 the Metis of Manitoba petitioned the government, stating that their land patents and scrip had been stolen. Some Metis reported that their scrip had been stolen when land speculators forged powers of attorney (by bringing in someone to impersonate the Metis scrip owner) at the land office. The government officials at the land office were fully aware that this occurred and supported the theft of land by land speculators by forging powers of attorney. This constitutes government fraud.----Some primary sources, such as interviews with Metis women Agnes Amyotte Fisher and Celina Amyotte Poitras, as well as with Metis man Gilbert Rose, confirm that their Metis family received scrip certificates and land. However, other Metis interview participants, such as Pauline Anderson, Billie (Marie) Robison and Norma Welsh, as well as Metis man Joe Terranso, disclose that their families never received land or payment for their scrip certificates. Metis man Joe Vandale reports that his Metis family had to purchase their land (which implies that their land rights were not recognized by the government). Metis man Pierre Vandale reported that the government did no sufficiently inform Metis people of the significance or value of scrip certificates (this is also implied in the interview with Emily Norris Roehl). Metis man Frank Auger testifies that some First Nations people felt confined by treaty regulations, and thus took scrip instead, which they later regretted because the land that had been set aside for them for hunting was, in actuality, too small. Metis historian Harry Daniels reported that in Alberta in 1935, "I have found that the destitute, the most destitute people amongst the Metis today, are the direct descendants of the Indians who left the treaty in favour of scrip. They were misled in thinking that they were being taken out of bondage, they were misled in giving up their treaty.”
D.N. Sprague argues that the petition accurately describes how the Metis were treated by scrip commissions. He indicates that a very small portion of money scrip reached the Metis claimants and much was pocketed by assignees and attorneys.