RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — On Thursday, the air in a park in Rio de Janeiro was filled with the sounds of Indigenous chants and the rhythmic shaking of maracas as Brazil’s Tupinambá people came together to celebrate the return of their sacred cloak, which had been missing for nearly 380 years.
This unique cloak, made from the feathers of the scarlet ibis, originally came from northeastern Brazil and had spent many years in Copenhagen, Denmark. Recently, the Danish National Museum decided to return the cloak to Brazil, donating it to the Brazilian National Museum.
Both President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indigenous Peoples Minister Sonia Guajajara attended a special ceremony held at Brazil’s National Museum, which is located on a hill in Boa Vista Park.
During his speech to the crowd, which included many Indigenous individuals and members of the public, Lula expressed his deep appreciation for the cloak, stating, “It is impossible not to appreciate the beauty and strength of this centuries-old and well-preserved piece, even after so much time abroad. It is our duty to safeguard this heritage.”
Celebrations for the cloak’s return have been ongoing since the previous week. The Tupinambá journeyed for 28 hours by land from their home state of Bahia to see the cloak, which is now displayed in a meticulously controlled environment to ensure its preservation. They held rituals and prayers, honoring the cloak as a living ancestor rather than just an object.
Jamopoty Tupinambá, a leader of the Tupinambá, shared her joy about reconnecting with the cloak, which had once played a vital role in their ceremonies. “The experience was deeply moving,” she said on Wednesday near their camp in the park. “The feeling was overwhelming. The spirits of our ancestors were present, too.”
At the encampment, some participants sat on the dry grass, drumming to the beat while incense wafted through the air, all wearing feathered headdresses. The atmosphere was electric with anticipation for this significant event.
The cloak measures nearly four feet tall and was taken from Brazil around 1644. It spent 335 years at Denmark’s National Museum, according to a statement from the Brazilian government.
“During colonization, the cloak was taken harshly, depriving our people of their greatest symbol of strength,” explained Yakuy Tupinambá, an elder from the Indigenous group.
In the year 2000, the Copenhagen museum lent the cloak for an exhibition in São Paulo, where Jamopoty’s mother, Amotara Tupinambá, first encountered it. “She was profoundly moved by the experience. The cloak seemed to call out to her, saying, ‘I am here.’ She felt awe and wonder,” Jamopoty shared, explaining that this moment sparked their campaign for the cloak’s permanent return.
In subsequent years, Glicéria Tupinamba from a Bahia village traveled to Copenhagen to help identify items in the museum’s collection. The desire to bring the cloak home began to gain momentum.
Across Europe, there is growing pressure on museums to return cultural artifacts to their countries of origin. Many Greeks have long demanded the return of sculptures from the Parthenon, which are currently held in the British Museum. In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron facilitated the much-publicized return of colonial-era treasures to Benin. Since then, France has faced criticism for not returning more significant artifacts, with concerns raised about the potential impact on its museums.
Denmark’s National Museum has received three requests for repatriation in the last ten years, according to Christian Sune Pedersen, head of research at the museum. They agreed to two of the requests, including Brazil’s, as part of efforts to assist in rebuilding Brazil’s National Museum, which suffered extensive damage in a catastrophic fire in 2018.
The process of bringing the cloak back to Brazil was complex and involved coordination between the Brazilian foreign affairs ministry, its embassy in Denmark, both nations’ national museums, and Tupinambá leaders. Extreme care was necessary to protect the fragile feathers, and the cloak was only removed from its sealed box once in a controlled air-conditioned setting, explained João Pacheco de Oliveira, an anthropologist and curator of the National Museum’s ethnographic collections.
This event marks a historic moment as it is the first time an Indigenous artifact of such importance has been returned to Brazil, Oliveira noted.
“We hope this will open doors for further donations and repatriations of cultural items,” he added.
Since taking office in 2023, Lula’s administration has promised to uphold Indigenous land rights and set up a ministry for Indigenous peoples, which contrasts sharply with the previous presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who resisted expanding Indigenous territories.
Nonetheless, many Indigenous individuals have expressed disappointment with the slow progress of Lula’s government in removing illegal miners and land-grabbers from their lands, as well as in creating new Indigenous reserves. Minister Guajajara acknowledged these concerns, stating, “I wish there were more designated territories. We must ensure that the number reflects the needs and wishes of various Indigenous peoples, like the Tupinambá cloak, which symbolizes our desire to return home.”
The Tupinambá people are actively seeking formal recognition of their lands as an Indigenous reserve, a process known as demarcation. Brazil’s justice ministry is currently reviewing their request, as noted in a statement from FUNAI, the agency responsible for Indigenous affairs.
Jamopoty Tupinambá emphasized how significant the cloak’s return is in this context, stating, “For us, the cloak embodies our strength. When it was taken, our people were diminished. Now, its return helps restore our power as we seek the demarcation of our territory.”
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AP writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.
