The Akuntsu are considered an "isolated tribe" by the Brazilian government, having only recently come into contact with global state societies. They were not officially contacted by FUNAI until 1995. The word Akuntsu is an exonym applied to the tribe by the Kanoê, who were contacted shortly before the Akuntsu, meaning roughly "other Indians". The nearby Tupari are also recorded as knowing of a group called the 'Akontsu' or 'Wakontsón' whom they had never visited. In both cases, the Akuntsu had a reputation for being "dangerous" and seemingly had little contact with neighbouring indigenous peoples. In an incident that took place some time before 1996, a Kanoê family, the sole survivors of a massacre, attempted to contact the Akuntsu to find marriage partners. The Akuntsu resisted these overtures and in the conflict that followed a Kanoê woman was killed by the Akuntsu. Although one of the Kanoê did become pregnant by an Akuntsu man, tensions continued and the Kanoê eventually moved away from the Akuntsu at the suggestion of FUNAI workers.https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Kano%c3%aa, "Stories of before official contact"
