Brazil's Indigenous People Hail Return Of Sacred Cloak

It is not known how the ceremonial cloak left Brazil, though experts believe it was made in the mid-16th century, when the country was under Portuguese colonization (Credit: AFP)

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 of a sacred cloak taken in colonial times.

The highly symbolic artifact, 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.