“On behalf of the Global Naga Forum, we gratefully express our solidarity with the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, 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. But it can mean more — if the Naga people are alive to the rich continuity of life, history, and cultures in their beautiful homeland and are in tune with the indomitable and resilient spirit of their forebears for what is right and just and good.
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The return of their forebears home 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.
We commend the FNR for their leadership in this sacred community work, which binds together the historic Naga ancestral homecoming with the potential for cultural restoration and reconciliation of the present generation. The 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.”
This is a press statement of the Global Naga Forum issued on October 16, 2024.
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