Oxford Returns Remains of 39 Naga Ancestors for Burial in Kohima, Nagaland

The news

The University of Oxford has returned the remains of 39 Naga ancestors, held for more than a century at its Pitt Rivers Museum, to community representatives in a formal ceremony on Monday. The remains were handed over to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation and the Naga Tribe Hoho at the museum, and have since been sent to Nagaland for burial.

Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey, described the handover as a historic moment in the relationship between the university and the Naga people, saying it reflected a community-led effort toward reconciliation, healing and peace. The Pitt Rivers Museum, established in 1884, holds cultural artefacts collected from around the world. Forum for Naga Reconciliation representative Visier Sanyu referred to the impact of British colonial violence on Naga communities, noting that colonial forces had burned down his own village.

Burial preparations have begun at the Naga Solidarity Park in Kohima. The park’s management committee has identified a burial site within the park, and committee convener Vipopal Kintsi said a prayer meeting was recently held there.

What is the Pitt Rivers Museum's colonial history?

The Pitt Rivers Museum was founded in 1884 at the University of Oxford from the collection of Augustus Pitt Rivers, a British army officer and archaeologist. It became a major repository of ethnographic objects and human remains gathered during British colonial expansion. Many such remains were collected without the consent of the communities concerned, often through colonial officials, missionaries and anthropologists. In recent decades, museums in Britain and elsewhere have faced growing demands to return human remains to Indigenous and other communities. The return of the Naga remains follows similar repatriations by institutions such as the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Edinburgh.

Why were the remains at Oxford for over a century?

The remains formed part of the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum, which was established in 1884 and holds cultural objects and human remains collected from different parts of the world during the colonial period. The return is linked to memories of British colonial violence against Naga communities.

What does the return achieve and what remains?

The handover places community representatives at the centre of receiving the remains, enabling culturally appropriate burial and recognition of historical harm. The University of Oxford described the process in terms of reconciliation, healing and peace. The remains have been sent to Nagaland, and burial preparations are under way at the Naga Solidarity Park in Kohima, where the management committee has identified a site and held a prayer meeting.