In 1950, the Araweté lived at the headwaters of the Bacajá River, but were pushed out by newly arrived Kayapó-Xikrin.
Paiakan was hired by the Brazilian government in 1971 to facilitate the construction of a the Trans-Amazonian highway system through Kayapo lands.
The Rainforest Foundation's initial project was successful in coordinating the first ever privately funded demarcation of indigenous land in the region - 17,000 square miles of traditional land, the Menkragnoti area, next to Xingu National Park, was demarcated and legally titled to the Kayapo people by the Brazilian government in 1993.