Oxford museum returns ancestral Naga skulls to India
Summary
The University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum has handed over the remains of 39 Naga people to a delegation from Nagaland, India. The remains, mostly skulls taken during British colonial rule, are expected to be returned to Nagaland for burial beneath a planned joint memorial.Key Facts
- About 30 people from Nagaland attended the handover ceremony at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
- The museum removed the remains from public display in 2020 as part of what it called a decolonisation process.
- The museum’s collection includes more than 6,000 objects associated with Naga culture.
- The museum lists 219 items in its collection as human remains, many acquired between 1910 and 1940.
- The museum says objects collected during that period were often taken during punitive military expeditions rather than freely given.
- Naga leaders formally requested the return during a visit to Oxford in 2025.
- The museum has previously returned human remains to Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
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