In the early 1890s, some Ngāti Maru were virtually landless and appealed to the Crown for help. The Crown's response was slow and ineffective, and legislation was not enacted until 1907. The land ultimately provided to Ngāti Maru was poor and it was of limited size. So the extensive loss of the land and the assets has eroded tribal structures. It's bad enough what actually happened in terms of the assets being taken, but it actually eroded the culture and the tribal structures and it caused severe poverty, and that damaged the whole physical, cultural, and spiritual health of generations of Ngāti Maru people. The intense sense of loss and disconnection is expressed in the following Ngāti Maru lament: 