Over the next few days, a team continued to dismantle the meeting house and other buildings that had been erected during the occupation. "Every step of the way has been worthwhile as far as we are concerned," Niko Tangaroa told the 18 May press conference in Wanganui. "Pakaitore is our land. It will remain our land, and we will continue to assert that right irrespective of the courts." The protest leaders vowed to continue their fight, including through further land occupations. "As long as the Crown buries its head in the sand and pretends that issues of sovereignty and our land grievances are going to go away—we are going to stand up and fight for what is rightfully ours," Ken Mair declared.