▁ 1 7 0 ▁villages ▁as ▁of ▁ 2 0 1 4 , ▁but ▁the ▁language ▁is ▁spoken ▁by ▁ 9 , 6 0 0 ▁people , ▁of ▁whom ▁about ▁ 7 , 0 0 0 ▁are ▁mon ol ing ual . ▁The ▁current ▁speak ers , ▁made ▁up ▁of ▁all ▁ages , ▁use ▁the ▁language ▁vig or ously ▁and ▁hold ▁positive ▁att itudes ▁towards ▁X av ante . ▁ ▁Background ▁X av ante ▁is ▁a ▁language ▁in ▁the ▁J ê ▁family , ▁spoken ▁in ▁M ato ▁Gros so , ▁in ▁the ▁west ▁part ▁of ▁Brazil . ▁It ▁has ▁been ▁orth ograph ically ▁rendered ▁as ▁Ch av ante ▁and ▁Sh av ante , ▁and ▁is ▁also ▁called ▁A ku en , ▁Ak wen , ▁A ’ uwe ▁U pt abi , ▁A ’ we , ▁Cris ca , ▁P usc iti , ▁and ▁T ap u ac . ▁ ▁History ▁The ▁X av ante ▁people ▁origin ate ▁from ▁the ▁east ▁of ▁the ▁Arag ua ia ▁River , ▁in ▁what ▁was ▁then ▁called ▁the ▁province ▁of ▁Go ias . ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 8 th ▁century , ▁this ▁area ▁was ▁heavily ▁inv aded ▁by ▁colon izers ▁searching ▁for ▁gold , ▁leading ▁to ▁the ▁ind igen ous ▁population ▁in ▁the ▁area ▁to ▁suffer ▁from ▁ep ide m ics ▁and ▁live ▁in ▁the ▁resident ial ▁settlement s ▁created ▁by ▁the ▁government . ▁Following ▁this , ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 8 th ▁and ▁early ▁ 1 9 th ▁centuries , ▁groups ▁of ▁ind igen ous