Only an estimated 500 Xingu peoples were alive in the 1950s. By the mid-twentieth century this number had been reduced by foreign epidemic diseases such as flu, measles, smallpox and malaria to less than 1,000. By the end of the 19th century, about 3,000 natives lived at the Alto Xingu, where their current political status has kept them protected against foreign intruders. In the centuries since the penetration of the Europeans into South America, the Xingu fled from different regions to avoid the spread of deadly disease and enslavement by the Portuguese. Xinuguano population was estimated in the tens of thousands but was dramatically reduced by diseases and slavery by the Portuguese. Kuikuro oral history says Portuguese slavers arrived in the Xingu region around 1750. Post-contact history Kuikuro from Mato Grosso Archaeologists have unearthed 19 villages so far. The villages were pre-planned and featured circular plazas. Ancient roads and bridges linked communities that were often surrounded by ditches or moats. Densely populated settlements developed from 1200 to 1600 CE. The Upper Xingu region was heavily populated prior to European and African contact. Xingu people represent fifteen tribes and all four of Brazil's indigenous language groups, but they share similar belief systems, rituals and ceremonies. They have many cultural similarities despite their different ethnicity. Xingu people are indigenous people of Brazil living near the Xingu River.

Guaja tribe