The Kuikuro today are the most populous Indigenous people of the upper Xingu region in Brazil. The constitute a Carib sub-group alongside other groups that speak dialect variants of the same language (Kalapalo, Matipu and Nahukuá) and make up the multi-lingual system known as upper Xingu, found in the southern part of the Indigenous Park of the Xingu.

The Carib peoples can be considered to be as important as the Aruak peoples (Waujá and Mehinako) in the history of the development of this system, although the Aruak are credited with being the original source. The Kuikuro are the original producers of the famous snail shell necklaces and belts that continue to play a key role in the traditional system of exchanges and payments in the upper Xingu.

You can learn more about the Kuikuro at socioambiental.org