Which statement describes how the Manitoba Act was used unfairly against the Metis?

• A. The federal government was only allowing Metis children to claim land if they gave up their Metis status
• B. Metis parents of children claiming land were given land scrips that could be used to get land from the government if they gave up their Metis status
• C. Land surveyors were putting a grid system in place on the farmland, dismantling the river lot system that Metis farmers were using
• D. European farmers were being given prime land lots by the river in the grid system

Answer: (D)

The key idea is how land was allocated after the Manitoba Act and how that allocation favored non‑Metis settlers over the Metis. Metis communities depended on the Red River valley and its river-lot pattern, which gave them access to long, narrow parcels along the water. When land was re-surveyed and divided using a grid system, prime riverfront land became available to European farmers. Giving these valuable river parcels to non‑Metis settlers directly undermined the Metis’ land base and livelihoods, showing the act was used in a way that treated Metis land rights as secondary to settler interests. While other policies and changes were part of the broader process, the most direct reflection of unfairness is that European farmers received the best land by the river.