The College of Oxford Council has accepted the repatriation of 39 Naga ancestral human stays held on the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) within the UK, marking a serious step in direction of returning stays taken throughout the colonial period to their homeland.
The repatriation, which is anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of this 12 months, would convey closure to an initiative undertaken collectively by the Discussion board for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) and its Recuperate Restore and Decolonise (RRaD), together with Naga tribe our bodies.
In a letter to FNR convener Wati Aier, PRM director Laura Van Broekhoven conveyed that the College’s Council had on July 13 formally agreed to return 39 human stays whereas declining the repatriation of 1 set because it doesn’t have clear proof that it was of Naga origin. The letter expressed hope that work can now begin in direction of bringing the Naga ancestors to their homeland.
“The trail residence for the Naga ancestors has now turn out to be a actuality as they journey to the Naga homeland. Repatriation, for the Nagas, is just not merely about bones and ancestral stays discovering their manner again to the land, however importantly it’s about reminiscence returning to the place it belongs. It’s a necessary step of an extended journey in direction of justice and dignity, and in direction of therapeutic and wholeness,” learn a joint assertion of the FNR-RRaD and Naga tribe our bodies.
Additionally Learn: Naga delegation seek return of ancestral remains from UK’s Pitt Rivers Museum
The Pitt Rivers Museum reportedly holds over 6,000 Naga artefacts. A member of RRaD knowledgeable that whereas the museum is open to welcoming Naga researchers to review these collections, reclaiming them is just not the RRaD’s focus presently.
Angami Public Organisation (APO) president Thejao Vihienuo stated the matter of the burial of the Naga ancestral stays after their repatriation is being pursued with the state authorities, with the hope of giving them a dignified burial.
Altogether, round 219 Naga ancestral human stays are stated to be below the care of the PRM.
“The Naga ancestral stays had been taken away below duress throughout colonial period by colonial directors and collectors,” coordinator of RRaD Ellen Konyak Jamir had earlier informed HT.
“The information that our ancestral stays are exhibited in museums the world over, or they’re boxed up, housed in museums, and they’re handled as specimens and collectibles; that has been information for us, and we now have all been very shocked to find out about this. So we (RRaD group) have tried our greatest as a group to exit to our group to share and speak about this data. It is a community-led initiative,” she stated.
A Naga delegation visited the UK in 2025 on the invitation of the PRM to strengthen the repatriation course of. The group additionally met with representatives from numerous British museums that held Naga belongings and human stays. The museums within the UK that maintain Naga artefacts and stays taken away from Naga communities throughout the colonial rule embrace the British Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge College, Manchester College, South Asia Gallery, Horniman Museum and Bristol Museum.