DIMAPUR, Nov 7: The Recover, Restore and Decolonise
(RRaD) team of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR)
participated in a weeklong study tour organised by the
University of Melbourne.
A 14-member delegation travelled to Melbourne, Australia,
for a learning exchange and dialogue series with indigenous
researchers and leaders at the University of Melbourne. The
FNR and RRaD members focused on themes of healing,
peace, justice, and reconciliation. These conversations also
focused on repatriation of ancestral human remains. Since
2021, the FNR has been facilitating dialogues and raising
awareness among various Naga communities and cultural
groups about the possibility of repatriating Naga ancestral
remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) at Oxford
University to the Naga homeland.
As guests of the vice chancellor of the University of
Melbourne, FNR and RRaD members interacted with their
Australian counterparts – First Nations scholars who are
involved in processes of repatriation, reconciliation, and
healing. The weeklong meetings intersected with the areas of
decolonization and the co-creation of Indigenous knowledge
on heritage, justice, and repatriation.
A statement from FNR, which was made available to Newmai
News Network this evening, said that the delegation heard
from leading First Nations academics and community-based
practitioners, of note prof Marcia Langton, Associate Provost
and prof Catherine Chamberlain, professor of indigenous
health. They were joined by FNR members Dr P Ngully and Dr
Rev. Ellen Jamir for a panel discussion entitled ‘Repatriation
as a Path to Healing: An Indigenous Dialogue’, chaired by
RRaD member and Associate Professor Dr Dolly Kikon.
Focusing on themes of Indigenous sovereignty, inter-
generational trauma, and the impact of colonisation, the
panellists deliberated on physical, mental health and
psychosocial approaches to healing and well-being. Prof.
Catherine Chamberlain shared that ‘Just as in birth,
connecting remains to their homelands is essential, and
allows Indigenous communities to fulfill what they see as
religious and customary law obligations to return their dead
to the care of the country. It is a critical part of the life course
approach to healing – with birth and death the most sacred
of times to ensure we pay respect and honor. It is so very
important for our healing as a nation that sacred remains are
returned to their resting place’, the statement also said.
The FNR and RRaD team also met with professor Aaron Coen,
director of the Indigenous Knowledge Institute and his team,
for a dialogue on Indigenous cultural values and the
importance of adopting Indigenous pedagogy in education
and research initiatives, according to the FNR statement.
On the weeklong engagement, the FNR said, “Welcomed by
director of the Initiative for Peacebuilding, Dr Tania Miletic,
FNR member Dr Aküm Longchari delivered a lecture on peace
and healing. He reflected on the ongoing dialogues and what
this means for the Naga people. Dr Longchari went on to
state that ‘Only by agreeing and believing in the values of a
shared future can we begin to address the past’”.
The meeting included academics and practitioners who work
in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding and was guided by a
discussion of the shared experiences of Indigenous peoples
and their aspirations for ‘a shared humanity’.
The Australia India Institute (AII) also invited the FNR and
RRaD delegation for a dialogue.
Dr Arkotong Longkumer, member of RRaD and senior
lecturer at Edinburgh University joined Hon Lisa Singh, CEO of
the Australia India Institute for a podcast on the Naga
Repatriation Process.
Dr Longkumer underlined parallel lessons for Australia and
India on reconciliation, the Indigenous experiences and their
experiences with colonialism. ‘It is not about finding all the
records because there are different ways in which knowledge
is translated. The landscape, the bodies of people and the
memories all come into play… so how might we revisit these
events or how might people remember them and pass them
from one generation to the other?’
The weeklong event included a session at the Melbourne
School of Planning and Design to learn about digital
repatriation and Indigenous heritage among Indigenous
communities; an engagement on Indigenous storytelling with
colleagues at Murrup Barak; a master class on healing and
reconciliation at the School of Social and Political Sciences
(SSPS); an interactive session with colleagues from the
Museum and Collections at the University of Melbourne
focused on repatriation and the role of museums to
decolonize in the 21 st century. In all the sessions the
delegation members performed Naga songs including a
traditional Naga chant by Dr Visier Sanyü. The Naga
community in Melbourne welcomed the FNR and RRaD team
with a community feast and a reflective session on the
ongoing processes around the repatriation of ancestral Naga
human remains, the statement added. (NNN)
