The Students’ Federation of India United Kingdom (SFI-UK) staunchly condemns the auction of ancestral Naga human remains in the UK. The act of auctioning indigenous remains is an inhumane practice that continues to perpetrate colonial violence. The sale should be stopped on an urgent basis and the remains should be returned to the Naga community.
The advertisement, containing antique artifacts to be auctioned on the 9th of October 2024, listed a “19th century horned Naga human skull” under Lot 64. This item, sold by Swan Fine Art at Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, falls within a large catalogue of human remains belonging to tribal communities from Africa and Asia. While Lot 64 has now been redacted from the auctioneers’ catalogue, remains from other tribal communities continue to be up for sale. The event comes at a time when Recover, Restore and Decolonize (RRaD) Nagaland and the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) have been facilitating a dialogue on the repatriation of Naga remains currently housed at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
The proposed auction is a blatant act of dehumanization and is hurtful to the sentiments of the Naga community and all erstwhile colonized peoples. Naga researchers have traced the historical practice of preserving and adorning the skulls of ancestors as a means to memorialize their legacy. Many of these cultural objects were seized by British officials to advance their mission to study and subjugate native populations. The collection of these remains without consent was an act of colonial violence over the bodies of the colonized peoples, and the institutions that continue to retain and profit from these objects perpetrate violence in the present. The return of cultural heritage objects is an obligation under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes a community’s right to maintain and protect the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, including artifacts.
The SFI-UK firmly condemns the auction of these ancestral Naga remains and stands in solidarity with the peoples demand for repatriation. We urge all progressive organizations to strengthen this demand and work towards attaining justice for colonized communities. The process of decolonization requires democratic dialogue and material reparations for indigenous communities.
Nikhil Mathew
(Secretary)
Priyambada Seal
(President)