Additional Coverage:
- Brazil Indigenous group hails a sacred cloak’s homecoming after nearly four centuries in Europe (newsbreak.com)
**RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)** – The rhythmic sounds of Indigenous chants and maracas echoed through a Rio de Janeiro park on Thursday, as the Tupinambá people of Brazil gathered to celebrate the return of a sacred cloak that had been absent for approximately 380 years.
The cloak, crafted from the feathers of the scarlet ibis, came from northeastern Brazil. It had been housed in Copenhagen until the Danish National Museum agreed to donate it back to Brazil.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indigenous Peoples Minister Sonia Guajajara were present at the ceremony held at Brazil’s National Museum, located on a hill in Boa Vista Park.
Lula addressed the crowd, saying, “The beauty and strength of this well-preserved, centuries-old piece are undeniable, despite its long time abroad. We are committed to preserving this heritage.”
Celebrations welcoming the sacred cloak have been ongoing since last week. Members of the Tupinambá traveled around 28 hours from the northeastern state of Bahia to the museum, where the cloak is now kept under carefully controlled lighting and temperature to ensure its preservation. They performed rituals and prayers with the artifact, which they regard as a living ancestor.
“The reconnection with the cloak, once central to important ceremonies, was awe-inspiring,” shared Jamopoty Tupinambá, a leader of the group, near their park encampment on Wednesday. “The emotion was overwhelming. Our spiritual ancestors, the enchanted ones, also arrived,” she added.
At the encampment, participants drummed on parched grass amid drifting incense smoke and wore feathered headdresses, adding to the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement on this significant occasion.
Standing nearly four feet tall, the cloak was removed from Brazil by the Dutch around 1644, according to a statement from Brazil’s federal government. It had been part of Denmark’s National Museum collection for 335 years.
“In the process of colonization, the cloak was taken abruptly and violently, depriving the people of their greatest symbol of strength,” said Yakuy Tupinambá, an elder in the Indigenous group.
In 2000, the cloak was loaned to an exhibition in Sao Paulo by Copenhagen’s museum. It was then that Amotara Tupinambá, Jamopoty’s mother, saw it for the first time in years, leading to the initiative for its permanent return.
Years later, Glicéria Tupinamba from Bahia visited Copenhagen to help identify items in their collection, further fueling efforts to bring the cloak home.
Museums across Europe are under growing pressure to repatriate cultural artifacts. Greece has long demanded the return of Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum, and in 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron oversaw the return of colonial-era treasures to Benin. Yet, critics argue that such actions might empty European museums.
Denmark’s National Museum has received three repatriation requests in the past decade. Christian Sune Pedersen, head of research, mentioned they positively responded to two, including Brazil’s request, partly to aid in rebuilding Brazil’s National Museum, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 2018.
The cloak’s return involved intricate coordination among the foreign affairs ministry, Brazil’s embassy in Denmark, both national museums, and Tupinambá leaders. Extreme care was needed to prevent damage to the delicate feathers; the sealed box containing the cloak was only opened in an air-conditioned setting, noted João Pacheco de Oliveira, an anthropologist and curator at Brazil’s National Museum.
This event marks the first time an Indigenous artifact of such importance has been returned to Brazil, setting a precedent for future repatriations.
President Lula’s administration, which commenced in 2023, has committed to protecting Indigenous land rights and has established a ministry for Indigenous affairs. However, many Indigenous groups have expressed frustration with the government’s slow progress in removing illegal miners and formalizing new Indigenous territories.
Acknowledging these concerns, Minister Guajajara expressed a desire for more demarcated territories, reflecting the aspirations of various Indigenous groups, much like the returning Tupinambá cloak.
The Tupinambá are requesting their land be officially recognized as an Indigenous reserve, a process under review by Brazil’s justice ministry, according to a June statement from FUNAI, Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency.
“The cloak symbolizes our strength. When it was taken, our people were weakened. Its return brings back our strength, particularly for the demarcation of our territory,” said Jamopoty Tupinambá.