India’s Naga tribes renew efforts to repatriate ancestral skulls from UK collections

Konyak tribesmen perform a traditional dance at their community gathering in Longwa village, in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland, on April 8, 2023. (AFP/File)

• British auction house put 19th-century Naga tribesman’s skull up for sale in October
• Colonial authorities started to collect Naga skulls as specimens in the mid-19th century

NEW DELHI: Ellen Konyak Jamir was left in a state of disbelief when she discovered that the skull of a tribesman from the state of Nagaland was being auctioned in the UK. What made the discovery even more unsettling was that it was being publicly advertised.
Part of a “Curious Collector Sale” at an auction house in Oxfordshire, the 19th-century horned skull was one of thousands of items — including human remains — that British colonial administrators had collected from the northeastern Indian state and placed in museums and private collections.
It was featured on the sale’s website in October as a piece that “would be of particular interest to collectors with a focus on anthropology and tribal cultures,” and was offered with an opening bid of $4,400.
“When the news of the auction by the Swan in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire was brought to our attention, we were absolutely shocked and dismayed,” Konyak, a Nagaland native and member of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, an association of members of various Naga tribes, told Arab News.
“(It was) an act of disrespect, dehumanization and the continuation of colonial violence ... We appreciated the prompt response and the removal of the item.”
The listing was quickly removed, but the incident has resulted in renewed efforts by the Naga community to repatriate the remains of their ancestors held in Britain.
“It created shockwaves of anger, humiliation and disbelief that in this century some people will be advertising to sell human skulls. That’s very serious,” said Visier Sanyu, a professor of history and an elder of the Angami tribe in Nagaland, who leads the Forum for Naga Reconciliation.
“We were approached to bring back these human remains, the skull, the hair, and hands and all from the Pitts River Museum, where they were exhibited for about 100 years ... It is a very long process. It can take 10 to 15 years.”
The University of Oxford’s Pitts River Museum has the largest Naga collection, featuring more than 6,500 items taken from the state. The items include dozens of human remains.
There are 16 Naga tribes inhabiting northeastern India and until the early 20th century most of them would collect the heads of their rivals after winning battles.
British colonial authorities started to take those skulls as specimens in the mid-19th century, but most were collected when anthropologist John Henry Hutton was an administrator in the region.
“He was the one who collected many of them,” Sanyu said.
“Hutton was here somewhere in the beginning of the century and then he went away during World War One and then he came back and stayed on for a long time, probably up till the 1930s or 40s.”
Dr. Dolly Kikon, a member of the Naga community and anthropology professor at the University of California, who co-founded the Recover, Restore, and Decolonize group under the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, is involved in the efforts to return human skulls from the UK.
She said the organization will request the respective tribes to decide what will happen to the remains of their ancestors once they are brought back to India.
“In cases where the remains are clearly identified as belonging to a respective Naga cultural group, it will depend on the elders and community members to determine the process. There are suggestions for burials, common memorial ceremonies, a memorial park signifying Naga unity and history, and also keeping the skulls as part of community history,” she said.
“Our role is to facilitate dialogues and take up awareness programs ... There is a need to connect repatriation to larger issues of colonial violence and the quest for dignity and justice.”
While it is not clear yet who will cover the expenses, some Naga activists, such as retired school principal Nyamto Wangsha, believe the UK should bear them.
“After identifying, we have to bury them and lay a memory stone in their name ... I feel the UK government should bear the expenses,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of the Britishers to bring back the skulls because they have taken them.”