Denmark Returns Brazil’s Stollen Ancestors : Rear Tupinambá Mantle Enriches Indigenous Heritage

An extremely rare Tupinambá mantle that has resided in Denmark is set to be returned to Brazil, where it will find its place in the National Museum. This artifact has been housed in a Copenhagen museum for over three centuries and is expected to return to its home country in early 2024. A Tupinambá leader commented, ‘We believe it represents an ancestor; it’s not merely a work of art, but a significant object.’

Denmark is returning this Tupinambá mantle to Brazil after it has been in Copenhagen since at least 1699. This exceptional piece, crafted from red guará feathers and employing an ancestral technique of the Tupinambá people, will be donated to the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro by the National Museum of Denmark. It measures approximately 1.80 meters in length and 80 centimeters in width.

This particular mantle is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind globally and is among only ten known specimens, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, which currently reside in museums located in European countries. The Danish museum suggests that the mantle could potentially return to Brazil starting in May 2024, but the director of the National Museum, Alexander Kellner, expressed a desire for an even earlier return and is actively working towards it.

The donation of this artifact by the Danish institution became possible due to the involvement of the Brazilian ambassador to Denmark, Rodrigo de Azeredo Santos, the National Museum, and the Tupinambá community of Serra do Padeiro, situated in the yet undemarcated Tupinambá Olivença Indigenous Land in Bahia.

In an interview with g1, Glicéria Tupinambá, an artist completing her anthropology studies at the National Museum, emphasized the mantle’s significance, stating, ‘Precious’ and ‘of inestimable value.’ She regards it as an essential cultural relic. Alexander Kellner, the paleontologist and director of the National Museum, believes that there is no piece outside of Brazil more important than the Tupinambá mantle. He emphasizes that it symbolizes the early Brazilian populations and is distinct from the numerous mummies of Egypt; there are only a few mantles.

The Tupinambá were one of the first indigenous peoples to have contact with Europeans following the Portuguese invasion in 1500. They resided in various villages along the Atlantic coast and faced wars, territorial conquest, enslavement, religious conversion, and the imposition of the Portuguese language. Despite these challenges, they have continued to resist and preserve their identity.

Historical records from the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe reveal that the mantles were used in significant rituals by the Tupinambá. Many of them were sent to Europe by Jesuit missionaries, while others were taken as spoils of war or exchanged in an unequal trade that favored the colonizers.

These mantles were prized possessions in royal collections, and some were even worn by European nobility. An image from 1599 depicts a member of a German duke’s court donning a red mantle during a procession called the ‘Queen of America.’ Another image from 1644 shows a mantle worn by Princess Sophie von Hannover, the daughter of a Bohemian king, in an oil portrait.

Glicéria Tupinambá sees the return of these cultural relics as an opportunity to reunite fragments of their culture and present the Tupinambá culture in its entirety, rather than in isolated parts.

The return of the Tupinambá mantle is a significant event in the preservation and restoration of Brazil’s cultural heritage. It underscores the need for dialogue and procedures to address the repatriation of valuable historical items. This move follows other instances of countries returning cultural artifacts to their places of origin, fostering international cooperation in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage.”

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Under the curation of João Pacheco de Oliveira, the collection’s reconstruction has actively involved indigenous peoples and quilombola communities.

“We will collaborate with the Tupinambá so they can instruct us on how to appropriately treat and exhibit this significant piece,” says Kellner.

Glicéria Tupinambá first encountered the red mantle, which will now return from Copenhagen, during a projection at a workshop in 2006.

“We aimed to make that image of the mantle projected on the wall a part of us. We were like moths drawn to the light,” she reminisces. During that time, Glicéria was crafting a new Tupinambá mantle as an expression of gratitude to sacred entities, the “Encantados,” for the process of reclaiming indigenous territory. Through photographs, she endeavored to comprehend the weaving technique used by her ancestors.

“I gradually grasped the intricacies of the ‘jereré’ stitch, employed by Tupinambá women to create fishing instruments. Only two women in the village possessed this knowledge: my 97-year-old godmother and my 78-year-old cousin. They were the custodians of knowledge that is nearly extinct,” she explains.

The first mantle that Glicéria had the opportunity to examine in person is still in France. In 2018, she expressed her desire to the team at the Parisian museum, saying, “I want to see the reverse side.” Her intention was to understand the weave, the technique, and not just the color of the feathers. She also desired to listen to the mantle. “The mantle communicates with me. We share an ancestral connection,” she explains. “I understand that to those who have spent their entire lives believing that objects cannot speak, I might appear eccentric. However, I come from a village context, and we perceive that objects are more than mere objects, especially when they are used in a religious context.”

Glicéria recalls that, on that occasion, the mantle revealed three images to her: “One when it resided within the territory, where I saw women, children, feathers, and the act of creation. Another image showed it inside a vessel, with people on the shore. I could feel the sand under my feet and witness the vessel vanishing on the horizon. Then, I saw the mantle departing the vessel and disappearing into a dark alley.”

Four years later, in 2022, she visited Copenhagen, where the National Museum of Denmark presented her with five mantles in their collection: three small ones and two large ones, one of which is the one returning to Brazil. In the presence of the red feathers, she was deeply moved as she heard the mantle express its desire to return. She stated, “It now requires a different kind of care, the rituals needed for its vitality, which its people must provide.”

According to Chief Babau, the Tupinambá of Olivença do not intend to seek the restitution or return of all their artifacts scattered throughout Europe, including flutes, clubs, bows, arrows, pots, pipes, and more.

“I am against removing everything from the museums there. However, I envision that other European countries may consider sending one of our mantles to Bahia,” he suggests.

Tupinambá mantles scattered across Europe
In total, there are 11 known Tupinambá mantles. According to Glicéria, two more are lost. The documented mantles are distributed across Europe as follows:

1 in Paris, France
1 in Brussels, Belgium
1 in Basel, Switzerland
1 in Milan, Italy
2 in Florence, Italy
5 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with one of them returning to Brazil.

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