Colonial-era Naga ancestral remains return home from UK after repatriation agreement

A 30strong delegation from Nagaland received the remains at a handover ceremony in Oxford on Monday The ancestors most of which are skulls will be given what the Naga tribal leaders described as a respectful rest with plans to bury them under a joint memorial in a park in NagalandI feel honoured that we walked alongside our partners to find the path to return for these 39 Naga ancestors who have been away from their homeland for far too long said Professor Laura Van Broekhoven Director of the Pitt Rivers MuseumThe museum holds the largest collection of Naga material in the world much of it gathered by colonial administrators in the early twentieth century Among them are the ancestral remains of Naga people taken during the colonial era and held in the museum for decadesThe Forum for Naga Reconciliation FNR approached the museum earlier this year seeking the return of their ancestral heritageIt has been humbling to be part of this process to witness the effect of collective consultation led by FNR and the RRaD Recover Restore and Decolonise team Especially inspiring is the beautiful way that collective work and shared action kept engagement growing to become a Nagawide movement of healing and unification said Van BroekhovenSince 2020 the museum said it has worked in collaboration with the FNR and RRaD teams together with tribal Hohos elders churches and communities across the Naga homeland to decide how their ancestors should be cared for and returnedIn February 2026 the University of Oxford received a claim from the FNR for 40 ancestral remains kept in the Pitt Rivers Museum The claim followed the universitys procedures for the return of cultural objects and was agreed by the Oxford University Council on July 13 2026 the museum saidThe council agreed to the return of 39 ancestral remains declining the return of one further remain which it said did not have a clear provenance as NagaFollowing this decision the Pitt Rivers Museum has been working closely with the Nagas to agree on a date for the handover ceremony After the ceremony the ancestors will finally return home accompanied by a Naga delegation including leaders and elders of several Naga tribe Hohos together with members of the FNR and RRaD the museum statedThe Naga ancestors were on display until 2020 when the museum removed all human remains off displayThe NagaOxford Declaration reads As Nagas we do so in a united voice with mutual respect and consensus and to offer you a dignified rest establishing a Naga monument of healing and peace for all generations symbolising the oneness of the NagasWe extend our solidarity to fellow Indigenous Peoples across the world who seek to undertake a similar journey of repatriation in the hope of bringing decolonisation justice and peace not just for ourselves but for humanityAccording to official records the first Naga ancestral remains were given to the museum in Oxford over a century ago by John Henry Hutton a colonial administrator in the Indian Civil Service and an anthropologistMost of the Naga ancestral remains now in the collection were brought to Oxford by Hutton and a second administratoranthropologist James Philip Mills between 1910 and 1940The return of the 39 remains was made possible with the support of the Homebound Project which is dedicated to restoring dignity sovereignty and cultural integrity to Indigenous communities worldwide by funding the material repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural belongings from UK institutions to their rightful communitiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever