A bamboo sunhat, looted from the Kenyah Badeng people of Sarawak, Borneo, during British colonial expeditions in 1895 and 1896, is set to return to its rightful home.
This artefact, held by Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum since 1923, was never displayed publicly but has remained a symbol of cultural loss for the Kenyah Badeng community.
Professor Laura Van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, expressed her support for the sunhat’s repatriation.
“Given the history of parts of our collections and their entanglements in military violence and oppression, this work of redress is a crucial part of the work we want and need to do,” she stated.
Van Broekhoven emphasized that returning the artefact is an essential step toward healing, fostering trust, and building a future of peace.
This ceremony will be the first instance in which the museum returns a cultural artefact, marking a shift from its past repatriations, which have only involved ancestral remains.
“At the heart of our work lies caring for objects and people,” Van Broekhoven added, underscoring the museum’s commitment to restoring relations with communities affected by colonial looting.
Sarawak, now part of Malaysia, was governed as an independent monarchy by the British Brooke family, known as the White Rajahs, from 1841 to 1941.
Their rule often included brutal military campaigns against indigenous communities, leading to widespread violence, displacement, and cultural loss.
Thousands were killed or uprooted from their homelands, with cultural artefacts like the sunhat taken as spoils.
The bamboo sunhat, decorated with human figure designs, was traditionally worn to offer physical and spiritual protection, especially for mothers and their infants.
It is among some 3,000 Borneo artefacts held by the Pitt Rivers, many acquired from the Brooke family’s private collection.
Ownership of the sunhat will officially transfer to the Kenyah Badeng Association, where it will be displayed at the Borneo Cultures Museum in Kuching, Sarawak’s largest city.
This historic return signifies a meaningful reconnection between the Kenyah Badeng people and a piece of their heritage.
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