Oxford University museum to return human remains to Naga people
LONDON: Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum will return the remains of 39 people taken during Britain’s colonial era to the Naga community in northeast India, the museum said on Monday. The museum, which holds the world’s largest collection of Naga artefacts, confirmed it was preparing the repatriation after the university approved a restitution request by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation…
Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum announced on Monday that it will return the remains of 39 individuals to the Naga community in northeast India. The museum, which possesses the world’s largest collection of Naga artefacts, confirmed the repatriation after the university approved a restitution request from the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR). Museum director Laura Van Broekhoven expressed the museum's sentiment in a statement to AFP, stating that the remains “have been away from their homeland for far too long.”
The human remains were collected during the early 20th century by British colonial administrators and were on public display until 2020. The FNR and other Naga organizations welcomed the agreement, emphasizing that repatriation is not merely about the return of bones and ancestral remains but also about memory returning to its rightful place.
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