As part of an ethical review in 2020, the museum removed the Naga skulls from public display and placed them in storage. This is when The FNR demanded their repatriation, external for the first time.
The museum said it had yet to receive a formal claim from Naga descendants, and the process of returning the human remains “could take anywhere from 18 months to several years, depending on the complexity of the case.”
Repatriation of human remains is more difficult than repatriation of artifacts. Extensive research is required to determine whether items were collected ethically, to identify descendants, and to navigate complex international regulations for the movement of human remains.
The Naga Forum has formed a group called Recovery, Reconstruction and Decolonization under the leadership of anthropologists Dolly Kikon and Arkatong Longkumer to facilitate the return.
“It’s a little bit like detective work,” Longcumer said. “We have to sift through different layers of information and try to read between the lines to find out the exact nature of the collections and where they come from.”
But for the Naga people, the process is not just logistical. “We are dealing with human remains,” Koniak said. “It’s an international and legal process, but it’s also a spiritual one for us.”
The group traveled to villages, met with Naga elders, organized lectures and distributed educational materials such as comics and videos to spread awareness.
They are also trying to build consensus around topics such as last rites for repatriated remains. Most Nagas now follow Christianity, but their ancestors were animists who followed various birth and death rituals.
