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Where did Ge-speaking peoples traditionally live in Brazil?

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Map of South America and the Caribbean showing the distribution of Aboriginal cultural groups, with regions color-coded by cultural type including Andean, Central American, tropical forest, and various nomadic cultures such as aquatic nomads, forest hunters and gatherers, and shellfish gatherers. Major group names are labeled across the continent and surrounding islands. — South American forest Indian Distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups.

Ge-speaking peoples traditionally inhabited regions across eastern and southern Brazil, as well as parts of northern Paraguay.1

More specifically, these groups were primarily located in the inland areas of eastern Brazil, extending as far south as the border with Uruguay. While many Indigenous tribes in South America are associated with tropical forests, the Ge family is notably associated with the semi-arid lands of central Brazil.23

Historically, these peoples were hunters and gatherers who transitioned into semisedentary farming, though most groups maintained hunting and gathering as their primary food source. Their traditional settlement patterns and social structures, which are characterized by complex systems of moieties, clans, and age-based associations, were adapted to these diverse environments.1