Tocantis

Tocantis lies east of the great Tocantins River, in country historically inhabited by Timbira peoples. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Krĩkatí, Pukobyê and other Eastern Timbira lived between the Tocantins and the Mearim. Cattle-raising settlers advanced from the east into the Maranhão cerrado, meeting armed resistance as they sought the grasslands occupied by these communities.