Studying Crown Maori land policy and practice in the period 1869-1929, from the establishment of the Native Land Court power until the cessation of large-scale Crown purchasing by Gordon Coates, this investigation chronicles the bleak and grim tidal wave of Crown purchasing that dominated the Maori people under very difficult circumstances. While recognizing that the government purchasing of Maori land was in its own way driven by genuine, if blinkered, idealism, this work’s deep research on land purchasing policy gives renewed insight on the significant politicians of the era, such as Sir Donald McLean, John Balance, and John McKenzie who were strong advocates of expanded and state-controlled land purchasing.