Tapajós languages

The Tapajos languages are a close-knit group of the Northern Je languages, comprising Kisedje and Tapayuna (Kajkwakhrattxi); it is closely related to Mebengokre (Kayapo), and together they make up the Trans-Araguaia branch of Northern Je. Although both Tapajos languages are now spoken in the Xingu River basin rather than on the Tapajos, this is known to be a consequence of two independent eastbound movements: the Kisedje arrived in their current location around the Suia-mucu River in the second half of the 19th century from the west, while the Tapayuna stayed in the Tapajos basin until the late 1960s, when the 41 survivors were transferred to the Xingu Indigenous Park after being decimated by local rubber tappers and ranchers.