Oxford University museum to return 39 Naga ancestral remains

Dimapur, Sept. 6 -- The Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM), University of Oxford, has agreed to return the ancestral human remains of 39 Nagas, with origins in Nagaland, held in its collection for decades.

Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Prof Laura Van Broekhoven, informed this in a letter to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) Rev. Wati Aier.

"We hope we can now commence the work - together with the FNR, the Naga tribe hohos, and with the support of the Recover, Restore and Decolonise (RRaD) team - towards the bringing home of the Naga ancestors to their homeland," the letter from Broekhoven read.

At its meeting on July 13, the University of Oxford Council had agreed to return 39 human remains, the letter said. However, the council declin...