Museum Repatriates Sunhat Taken During Colonial Expeditions

A bamboo sunhat, previously plundered from an indigenous community by British colonizers, is being repatriated. This cultural artifact was seized from the Kenyah Badeng people of Sarawak, Borneo, during British-led military campaigns conducted in 1895 and 1896. The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford acquired the item in 1923, but it has never been exhibited. Prof Dr Laura Van Broekhoven, the museum’s director, expressed her satisfaction that “the sunhat will be returning home,” noting it had been “so violently taken.” She further stated: “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, as it helps to restore trust and understanding, and builds hope for a future of peace through partnership.” A ceremony held on Monday morning signified the institution’s initial repatriation of a cultural object to an indigenous community, having previously only returned ancestral remains. Prof Van Broekhoven remarked, “At the heart of our work lies caring for objects and people.” Sarawak, now a component of modern-day Malaysia, was governed as an autonomous monarchy by the British Brooke family from 1841 to 1941. This family, referred to as the White Rajahs, routinely commissioned military expeditions to suppress opposition from the indigenous inhabitants of the regions. Such expeditions frequently involved the slaughter of women and children, the destruction by fire of longhouses, and the plundering of possessions. Furthermore, these actions led to thousands of fatalities and the lasting displacement of individuals from their native lands. The sunhat, crafted from woven bamboo and adorned with human figure designs, was intended to offer both physical and spiritual safeguarding for a mother and her child. This item is among approximately 3,000 artifacts from Borneo housed at the Pitt Rivers Museum, with a significant number obtained from the Brooke family’s personal collection in the early 1920s. The ceremony formalized the transfer of ownership to the Kenyah Badeng Association, after which the sunhat will be displayed at the Borneo Cultures Museum in Kuching, Sarawak’s most populous city.