The Kaingang territory occupies the modern states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (and, until the beginning of the 20th century, Misiones, Argentina).
Today they live in around 30 indigenous lands (similar to Native American reservations), especially in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.
In the 1960s, because of a missionary interest (conducted by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)), the language was studied by Ursula Wiesemann.
However, the school produced many Kaingang speakers who went back to their reservations to teach others and spread the writing innovations they learned.
Only one of the dialects is used as the standard written form, though having the writing system provided a source of pride in the language for the Kaingang people.