In a landmark moment for the Naga people, a Naga delegation has embarked on a week-long learning and dialogue visit to the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, from June 8 to June 14, 2025. The visit is a significant step forward in the ongoing process of repatriating Naga ancestral human remains currently held at the museum.
The delegation comprises leaders and elders representing various Naga tribe hohos, members of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), and the Recover, Restore and Decolonise (RRaD) team. This initiative aims to strengthen the Naga-led effort to identify, claim, and recover ancestral remains and initiate a process of healing, reconciliation, and decolonisation.
Since November 2020, the FNR has been facilitating dialogue with Naga tribal bodies to seek their consent, participation, and active support in the repatriation efforts. In partnership with the RRaD team, which has been conducting participatory action research among Naga communities, the initiative has also forged networks with other Indigenous groups worldwide engaged in similar efforts to reclaim their heritage.
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According to FNR, this visit is historic—it marks the first time that a Naga delegation will be given access to the ancestral human remains held at the PRM, which houses the world’s largest collection of Naga cultural artifacts, including approximately 219 human remains. During the visit, the delegation will engage with museum staff in collaborative dialogue, share knowledge, and examine in detail the process of return and future care of the remains.
The visit reflects a mutual commitment to fostering understanding and ethical responsibility, the FNR said adding, the Naga delegation is emphasizing that the process must remain Naga-led, inclusive, and culturally rooted.
They aim to explore a framework for respectful repatriation that contributes not only to Naga healing but also to broader global conversations on colonial restitution and Indigenous rights.
The FNR acknowledged the PRM’s ‘Committed to Change’ and ‘Strategic Plan’ to engage with communities and to reconcile with the colonial past as a sincere paradigm shift. It also sees this collaboration as a significant step toward addressing the colonial violence.
This involves Naga people rewriting and retelling our stories by focusing on social justice and decolonisation and begin healing from the burdens of a violent colonial past, it said.
Calling upon the broader Naga community for support and solidarity, the FNR urged that the pathway to repatriation be dynamic and robust. “Although the Naga response needs to be distinct, it must also be relatable, inclusive, interactive, and contribute to the international processes and discourses around repatriation,” it added.
The forum also reiterated its openness to dialogue and welcomed constructive feedback as this deeply significant process unfolds.
