Guwahati: More than 39 sets of Naga ancestral remains, taken from the region over a century ago and preserved at the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, will be brought back to Nagaland and displayed at Solidarity Park for two to three days before being laid to rest.
Dr Visier Sanyü, a member of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), on 11th November said two programmes would be organised to mark their return ,a homecoming ceremony followed by a burial ceremony.
Speaking in Dimapur, Sanyü expressed gratitude to the Naga Students' Federation (NSF) and the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights for donating land to serve as the final resting place for the ancestral remains. He added that the public would be given an opportunity to pay their respects at Solidarity Park before the burial.
Dr Ellen Konyak Jamir, coordinator of Recover, Restore and Decolonise (RRaD), described the repatriation as an assertion of the Naga people's right to their ancestral human remains. She said the process had also opened avenues for museums and the Naga community to address historical injustices through sustained dialogue.
The Pitt Rivers Museum has formally handed over the remains to facilitate their return.
The Restoration marks a significant step towards addressing the colonial-era removal of indigenous human remains and restoring ancestral dignity through culturally appropriate final rites. For the Naga community, the homecoming carries deep historical, cultural and emotional significance.