T he University of Oxford Council has agreed to return 39 Naga ancestral remains held at the Pitt Rivers Museum in the United Kingdom, marking a significant step in a six-year effort to bring the remains back to the Naga homeland.
The decision was formally taken on July 13, 2026, according to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR). In a letter to FNR Convenor Rev. Dr. Wati Aier, Pitt Rivers Museum Director Prof. Laura Van Broekhoven said the museum hoped to begin the work towards bringing the Naga ancestors back to their homeland.
The repatriation process began in 2020, when Van Broekhoven approached the FNR to help facilitate the return of the Naga ancestral remains.
The FNR subsequently established the research initiative Recover, Restore and Decolonise (RRaD), with Naga academics Dolly Kikon and Arkotong Longkumer, along with volunteer researchers. The initiative has since worked with Naga tribal hohos, elders, civil society, church leaders, students and communities on research, awareness and the repatriation process.
A major step came in June 2025, when the Pitt Rivers Museum invited a Naga delegationAMP comprising tribal hoho leaders, elders and members of the FNR and RRaD to Oxford to see the ancestral remains and engage with museum representatives.
The June 9–13 visit resulted in the Naga Oxford Declaration on Repatriation, through which the delegation called for the return of the remains and linked the process to the recovery of Naga history, dignity and collective memory.
The declaration also committed the Naga side to pursuing repatriation in a united manner and establishing a Naga monument of healing and peace following the return of the ancestors.
With the Oxford Council’s decision now in place, a Naga delegation led by Naga tribal hoho leaders, together with the FNR-RRaD, is expected to travel to the Pitt Rivers Museum to claim and facilitate the return of the remains.
The FNR-RRaD said the return of the 39 ancestral remains was not only about bringing human remains back to their homeland, but also about restoring a connection with Naga history and memory.
The initiative described the Oxford decision as the point at which the “path home” for the Naga ancestors had become a reality.