The Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford agreed to return the ancestral remains of 39 Naga people to Nagaland India, with a handover scheduled for November 2026. The decision formalized a process begun in 2020 and advanced through visits and agreements in June 2025 including the Naga Oxford Declaration issued on 13 June 2025.
The return has been framed by Naga leaders and museum officials as part of a broader effort to Recover, Restore and Decolonise holdings and to restore dignity and memory to communities whose ancestors were taken during the colonial era. The museum holds over 6,000 Naga artefacts and had removed all human remains from public display since 2020 steps officials described as part of institutional reform and collaboration with Naga representatives.
Key participants and organisational roles
The agreement involved multiple named actors: Professor Laura Van Broekhoven director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, sent formal notice to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, whose convener is Wati Aier. The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) established the Recover, Restore and Decolonise (RRaD) initiative, led by Naga academics Dolly Kikon and Arkotong Longkumer supported by a network of research volunteers. Tribal hohos, elders and other Naga community representatives participated in the process, including a delegation that visited the museum in June 2025 to view the collection and discuss repatriation logistics.
Items to be returned and provenance background
The specific repatriation concerns 39 ancestral human remains, described in museum records primarily as skulls, and a further group of 178 objects that contain or may contain human hair. Museum catalogues list 219 items as Naga human remains in total, though the current agreement covers the identified 39 remains. Many of the remains and objects were acquired between roughly 1910 and 1940 by colonial administrators, including figures named in historical records such as J.H. Hutton and J.P. Mills, and museum documents acknowledge that some collecting took place during punitive expeditions and under coercive circumstances.
Timeline, ceremonies and logistics
Repatriation work began in earnest when contact was made in 2020 between museum leadership and Naga representatives. The June 2025 visit culminated in the Naga Oxford Declaration on 13 June 2025 which called for dignified burial and community-led ceremonies upon return. The museum and the FNR planned a handover ceremony in Oxford to be followed by transport to Nagaland and local rites; the museum indicated the process was expected to be completed by the end of 2026 with the handover scheduled for November 2026. Logistics include curatorial work to establish provenance, conservation assessments, and coordination with tribal hohos to arrange burial protocols in Nagaland.
Broader context and institutional commitments
The decision is presented by participants as part of a broader movement to address colonial-era acquisitions and to decolonise museum collections. The Pitt Rivers Museum noted it holds the world’s largest known collection of Naga cultural objects among its more than 6,000 items, and that the return of ancestral remains is distinct from ongoing access for Naga researchers to study artefacts. The RRaD initiative, the FNR and museum leadership stated the process emphasises restoration of memory, dignity and community agency in handling ancestral remains.
Last updated: 10 September 2026. The museum and Naga representatives said further logistical details, including the precise programme for the November 2026 handover and the composition of the returning delegation, would be confirmed as planning continued.
