The National Museum of Denmark is handing over an iconic cloak belonging to an indigenous group in Brazil at a ceremony being attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Considered sacred by the indigenous Tupinambá people, the garment was taken from Brazil during the Portuguese colonial period and has been on display in Copenhagen since 1689.
The 1.8m-long cloak is made of 4,000 red feathers from the scarlet ibis bird.
Brazil’s government has been trying to recover artefacts taken during the colonial period from around the world.
The cloak was returned in July and will be housed at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
A group of 200 Tupinambá people have been camping outside the building, with drums and pipes filled with medicinal herbs, waiting to see the precious cloak and to reconnect with their ancient traditions.
Yakuy Tupinambá travelled more than 1,200km (745 miles) by bus from the eastern Olivenca municipality to see the garment. “I felt sadness and joy. A mixture between being born and dying,” he told the AFP news agency.
“Our ancestors say that when they [the Europeans] took it away, our village was left without a north,” indigenous chief Sussu Arana Morubyxada Tupinambá said.
Several Tupinambá sacred capes, which have survived hundreds of years, are still on display in museums across Europe.
They are thought to date back to the 16th Century.
Tupinambás leaders say this is not just about bringing artefacts back to their original homelands, but about recognising indigenous people, their lands and rights.
Brazil’s president has pledged to recognise indigenous land reserves, but the Tupinambás’ territory has not yet been formally demarcated by the government.
The Tupinambás say the mineral-rich territory is being devastated by large agriculture and mining businesses.
Credit: bbc.com
