James Takamore's family say they will not rest until his Tuhoe relatives return his snatched body to Christchurch.
But Mr Takamore's whanau say despite a court order ruling they abide by Mr Takamore's wife's wishes, they will be standing firm on keeping the body in the North Island.
Following a civil case in the High Court in Christchurch, Justice John Fogarty ruled that Denise Clarke could bring her husband's body back from a North Island marae for burial in Christchurch.
His decision stopped short of ordering Mr Takamore's body to be exhumed from its burial place in Opotiki the Bay of Plenty.
Instead, he invited Tuhoe to disinter the body or get together with the widow to try to reach a resolution.
Mr Takamore's son Jamie said he and his sister felt vindicated by the ruling.
"It's frustrating, because we haven't done anything wrong," he told The Press.
"Finally the law is in our favour, but I won't be 100 percent satisfied until he's here, because so much could change between now and getting him home, he said.
"None of us ever expected this -- you shouldn't have to think, when your father dies, `we better put him in a lockup so he doesn't get stolen'."
Ms Clarke said that, in theory, the ruling was a "huge relief", but the situation remained unresolved.
Last night, she had not heard from Takamore's relatives, she told the newspaper.
She said the legal battle had taken over their lives, leaving little time for grieving.
"I just want to respect his wishes, because he wanted to be buried down here. He made that very clear," she said.
"He obviously chose to be here and he wasn't living under the tikanga (customary) law any longer, so it was his right, and my right as executor, to have him buried here."
However, the Tuhoe relatives are holding firm to their position, despite the court's ruling.
A relative of Mr Takamore in the North Island, who asked not to be named, told The New Zealand Herald the whanau had no regrets about their actions. But she said they were willing to talk to Ms Clarke. "That's if she comes to talk with us."
The lawyer for the whanau, Moana Tuwhare, said they were disappointed by Justice Fogarty's ruling but had no plans to give back the body.
"As far as my clients are concerned they hold firm to the position that they have acted in accordance with their tikanga...but they are willing to continue out-of-court dialogue with Ms Clarke," she said.
"(Both parties) are quite determined to stand their ground, which makes any resolution difficult."
In his ruling, Justice Fogarty's reserved leave to make a further application for remedies, presumably if the discussions did not reach a settlement.
Mr Takamore's body was whisked out of Christchurch in a van overnight by his Tuhoe family after a row developed between them and Ms Clarke and her family at the marae in the days after his death in 2007.
An injunction was obtained by Ms Clarke but was too late to stop the burial at Kutarere Marae in Opotiki where Mr Takamore now lies beside his father and among other family members.
