Before being settled on reservations throughout the 1960s and 70s, the Aché lived in nomadic bands in the Atlantic coastal forests west of the Paraná river. Surveys conducted in the 1980s (Fundación Moisés Bertoni 1987; Keel 1987) note the prevalence of high canopy forest throughout the home range of the Northern Aché, resulting in thinner undergrowth relative to the more dense home ranges of the Ñacunday Aché. (How this affects hunting strategies between Northern and Southern subgroups is uncertain.) In addition to high canopy subtropical deciduous forest, Aché home ranges included upland savannah, palm swamps, and bamboo forests. Recent deforestation by soybean cultivators and ranchers has destroyed much of the original habitat of these areas.

The Aché currently live in six communities spread over four different federal states of the country. The communities are Arroyo Banderas, Chupa Pou, and Kue Tuwy in the state of Canindeyú, Cerro Moroti in the state of Caaguazú, Ypetimi in the state of Caazapá and Puerto Barra (ca. 120) in the state of Alto Paraná. A small number of Aché, most of them high-school students, live in Asunción.

References

Fundación Moisés Bertoni. 1987. Proyecto Mbaracayú. Asunción: Centro de datos para la Conservación.

Keel, S. 1987. “Inventory of Forest Property Owned by the World Bank.” In Proposal to The Nature Conservancy to Create the Mbaracayu Wilderness Area. Asunción: Centro de datos para la Conservación.