Kohima: Thirty-nine Naga ancestors are finally coming home. British colonial officers stole these remains from the Naga Hills over a century ago. The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford confirmed the repatriation on July 13, 2026. This is the largest return of remains in the institution's history. The Nagas are the first indigenous community from India to recover ancestral remains from a foreign museum.
Professor Dolly Kikon initiated the process six years ago. She reached out to the museum after seeing news reports about them pulling human remains from public display in 2020. The museum then contacted the Forum for Naga Reconciliation. The Forum engaged tribe hohos to build community support. A dedicated team, Recover, Restore and Decolonise, formed in 2021 to lead research and awareness across the homeland.
The effort faced tension. In October 2024, an auction house tried to sell a Naga skull. Nagaland Chief Minister Dr. Neiphiu Rio condemned the sale, which led to a debate in the UK House of Lords. The museum and Naga partners worked together to stop the transaction.
In June 2025, a formal Naga delegation visited Oxford. They issued the Naga-Oxford Declaration on Repatriation. The declaration represents a rare, unanimous intertribal agreement. It states, "We are sorry that it has taken us several decades but we are here now to reclaim and return you to the homelands from where you were taken."
The ancestors will not return to individual villages. The communities chose a single, shared burial site to represent unity. The site will serve as a monument of healing and peace. Rev Dr Wati Aier noted the process transcends logistics. It is about spiritual reconciliation. The museum holds about 6,500 Naga objects, including 178 items containing human hair. Those items remain under discussion. A handover ceremony date is pending, but a Naga delegation will soon travel to Oxford to bring the ancestors home.
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