A sacred cloak worn by Indigenous leaders in the 16th century has been returned to Brazil from the National Museum of Denmark. The object’s return, though widely celebrated by Brazil’s Indigenous populations, has sparked a debate over where the artifact should permanently be displayed.

A highly symbolic artefact, held at the National Museum of Denmark since 1689, will be presented in Rio de Janeiro in a ceremony to be attended by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday.

The cloak, made of 4,000 red feathers, was taken from Brazil during the Portuguese colonial period.

A sacred cloak that had been in the holdings of the National Museum of Denmark for more than 300 years was returned to Indigenous leaders in Brazil, reported the BBC. The nearly six-foot-long cloak was constructed using 4,

Brazil formally received on Thursday the return from Denmark of an Indigenous cloak made with 4,000 red feathers of the scarlet ibis bird, a sacred mantle that was taken by Europeans during the 17th century colonial era.

With the beating of drums and pipes filled with medicinal herbs, the Tupinamba people of Brazil are counting down the final hours of a 335-year wait for the official return

Indigenous chants and the rattle of maracas are resounding in a Rio de Janeiro park, where Brazil’s Tupinambá people gathered to celebrate the homecoming of a sacred cloak absent for some 380 years