Museum returns 30 ancestral remains to Naga people after 100 years

Imagine if your family members were far away in a foreign country, and you could not visit them or bring them home. This is what happened to many Naga people for more than one hundred years.

The Naga are people from a region called Nagaland, located in northeast India and Myanmar. Many years ago, researchers and explorers took remains of Naga people to museums in Europe. One of the biggest museums is the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England. This museum kept these human remains in its collection for a very long time.

Recently, the Naga people asked the museum to return the remains. They wanted to bring their ancestors home. The museum listened to this request. In 2024, the Pitt Rivers Museum agreed to return more than thirty sets of remains to the Naga people. This is a big decision.

Why is this important? For the Naga people, ancestors are very special. They believe that when remains are in a foreign place, the ancestors cannot rest in peace. By returning the remains, the museum is showing respect for Naga culture and beliefs. The Naga can now hold ceremonies and honor their ancestors in their own way.

This story shows something interesting about museums today. Many museums around the world are thinking about what they hold. They ask: should we keep things that belong to other communities? More and more, museums say yes to returning things. This is a sign that museums want to help communities reconnect with their history.

The Naga people will soon have their ancestors back home. This journey took many years, but it is finally happening. It reminds us that families—even across oceans and time—can be together again.

Inspired by reporting from BBC News.