GNF backs return of Naga ancestral remains from England

DIMAPUR — The Global Naga Forum (GNF) has come out  in support of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) in the repatriation of Naga ancestral remains home from England.

In a statement, the GNF said that it is in solidarity with the FNR as they lead the “sacred cultural mission” to bring the Naga ancestral remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) back to their rightful homeland from where they were taken.

“The journey home of the displaced Naga remains from far-off shores is a significant and necessary act of cultural recovery,” it said, adding that the return could also be the beginning of today’s Naga people’s collective journey from past and present divisions and animosities toward understanding and healing, leading to reclamation of their narrative as one people, whose story has, for too long, been told by others—poorly, mostly badly.

Commending FNR for their leadership, it said that FNR’s work is a timely reminder for Nagas spread across the unnatural borders of the importance of reclaiming not only their dignity as one people with a shared history but of a worthy legacy to live for and to bequeath to the generations to follow.

“We extend our gratitude to the Pitt Rivers Museum for its willingness to engage in this sensitive and necessary process of repatriation. The museum’s effort to address the injustices of the past by working with Naga communities is commendable, and we trust that the partnership between PRM and FNR will continue to foster mutual understanding and respect among people across the seas and international borders,” it read.

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