A delegation of approximately 30 people from Nagaland, a mountainous state in northeastern India, attended a handover ceremony at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford on Monday. The ceremony marked the official transfer of authority and the signing of an agreement with Naga leaders.
Repatriation and future burial plans
The remains, most of which consist of skulls, are being sent back to India to ensure they receive a 'dignified rest,' according to Naga tribal leaders. The community plans to bury the ancestors under a collective memorial located in a park in Nagaland.
This is a historic moment that will go into the history told to future generations.
The museum director noted that the repatriation follows the overcoming of 'many bureaucratic delays.' The human remains had been on display at the Oxford museum for decades before being removed from public view in 2020 as part of what the institution described as a 'decolonization process.'
The museum's Naga collection
The Pitt Rivers Museum holds a significant collection related to the Naga culture, much of which was acquired during the British colonial era in India and Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Key figures of the repatriation
Context
The Pitt Rivers Museum is part of the University of Oxford, an institution founded in 1096. The museum's collection of over 6,000 Naga-related items is considered the largest of its kind in the world.
