Naga leaders' visit to England culminates
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Dimapur, June 15 2025: The Naga delegation, comprising senior leaders of "Naga tribe hohos fromNaga territories", toe Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), and the Recover, Restore, and Decolonise (RRaD) team, concluded a week-long series of events and activities aimed at repatriating ancestral human remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University on June 13, 2025, a press statement from the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) said.

The Naga delegation met with representatives from various British museums that held Naga belongings and human remains.

Dr Alexandra Green, curator of the British Museum, stated that a significant amount of material from Myanmar/ Burma may be of importance to the Nagas, but much of the existing collection was obtained from the erstwhile province of Assam, the press note also said.

She said that the digitisation process will be over soon, and almost all the materials will be accessible on their website.

She went on to say that one Naga human remains had been taken off display.

Dr Mark Elliot, senior curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, informed the Naga delegate that only a small percentage of the material was on display; hence, his university was also trying to digitise the material for greater public accessibility.

He said that there were 725 objects, mainly belonging to the Angami, Ao, Konyak, and Khiamniungan communities, the press release also said.

The Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Manchester University, Georgina Young, and the Lead Curator of the South Asia gallery, Nusrat Ahmed, informed the Naga delegation that they have been working tirelessly with local South Asian communities to co-create what should be included in the galleries and how they should be represented.

They informed the Nagas that they possessed twelve Naga human remains, eleven of which were from the Konyak areas.

The materials were donated by James P Mills, and in 1994, the Board of Manchester University decided that all the human remains were to be removed from the exhibition, it added.

Navjot Mangat and Heba Abd El Gawad, representatives of the Homiman Museum in London, informed the Naga audience that they had stopped using the word "objects" and had begun to use "belongings" to refer to the material that was forcibly taken from communities during colonial rule.

They said that they have more than 400 belongings, mainly pipes and shawls, most of which were obtained as gifts from army officers stationed in the Naga homelands during colonial times.

They still have two human remains that had been taken off display.

They said they would like to work with the Naga community to ensure that there could be an ethical process to repatriate human remains and belongings.

Lisa Graves, the curator of the Bristol Museum, said that they had more than 200 potential Naga collections and one trophy head that had been removed from display.

A lot of their material from Myanmar had been labelled as belonging to the Chin, but it is possible that they were mislabelled, the press release of the FNR further said.

Following these presentations, Prof Arkotong Longkumer initiated an open public event at the Lecture Hall of the Museum of Natural History, Oxford University.

Beginning with a one-minute silence for the victims of the tragic air disaster in Ahmedabad, he welcomed Kumsang Bendangtoshi, presidential Council Member, and Tongor Luden Ao Senden to dedicate the proceedings to the ancestors and spirits.

After the dedication, Dr Laura van Broekhoven, Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, remarked that the week-long discussions with the Naga delegation had been fruitful.

This marked the culmination of five years of engagement that enabled the transition from preservation care to the cultural care of human remains and other belongings.

Dr Visier Sanyu offered a traditional chant that alluded to the separation of the ancestors from the creator and prayed that the two could be reunited to heal the hurts of the past and present.

Thejao Vihienuo, president, Angami Public Organisation, read out The Naga Oxford Declaration on Repatriation that stated, "We are grateful to our ancestors for being a testament and silently proclaiming the stories of our people.

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.

We are committed to the process of your return from museums" .

He also said, " We acknowledge that this-Repatriation process is towards the healing and wholeness of the Naga people," adding, "As Nagas, we do so in a united voice, with mutual respect and consensus and to offer you a dignified rest, establishing a Naga monument of healing and peace for all generations, symbolising the oneness of the Nagas" .

He then said, ,"We extend our solidarity to fellow Indigenous Peoples across the world who seek to undertake a similar journey of repatriation in the hope of bringing decolonisation, justice, and peace, not just for ourselves, but for humanity".

The declaration was signed by Thejao Vihienuo, President APO, Kumsang Bendangtoshi, presidential Council Member, Tongor Luden Ao Senden, Talamong Khiamnuingan, Executive Chairman, Khianmuingam Tribal Council, A Peihwang Wangsa, representative of the Konyak Union, Ngongba Tange Thamlong Phom, Vice President, Phom Peoples Council, Dr Vihuto Asumi, President, Sumi Hoho, Jollyson Ronra Shimray, Vice President, Tangkhul Naga Long, and Dr P Ngullie on behalf of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation.

The declaration was presented to Dr Laura van Broekhoven, the Director of PRM .

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