The remains of the Naga people were collected by British officials in the early 20th century, when India was under British colonial rule. Some of them were displayed at the anthropological museum as recently as 2020.
Following a request from the organization FNR, which works to promote reconciliation and peace among ethnic groups in northeastern India, they are now to be returned.
“They have been away from home for too long,” museum director Laura Van Broekhoven says in a statement.
In recent years, an increasing number of artifacts and human remains have been repatriated from Western museums and institutions. Many of the remains were stolen or looted during the colonial era.
