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It is not clear where the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí came from, and their own oral traditions do not contain any information that clearly indicates a time prior to their arrival in the Guaporé region. The close linguistic relationship between Arikapú and Djeoromitxí suggests that they have lived in proximity to one another from the time they came to the region. The traditional habitat of the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí is tropical rainforest. According to their own accounts they have always lived on the headwaters of the Rio Branco. Their languages do not have words for the bigger fish that live downstream and in the river Guaporé, such as surubim (genus Platystomatichthys).

Until 1955 they were reported by Franz Caspar (1975) to live on the left bank and the left headwaters of the Rio Branco, upriver from where the town of Alta Floresta d’Oeste is located today. The Djeoromitxí used to live downriver from the Arikapú. Their traditional neighbours were the Tupí-speaking (Tuparí family) Makuráp and Wayurú, who lived downriver on the left bank of the Rio Branco. On the right bank lived the Tuparí, who used to be enemies with the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí. Further downstream the Tupí-speaking Aruá (Mondé family) lived.

Before contact with Westerners, the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí may have numbered a few thousand individuals each. They lived in big beehive-shaped communal houses and their subsistence was based on fishing, hunting, gathering of fruits and insects, and slash-and-burn agriculture. They planted maize, manioc, peanuts, yams, bananas, calabash and they bred edible larvae from various species of insects. They buried their dead inside the house, in sitting position in large ceramic funerary urns that were sealed off with a lid. On top of the grave a fire was kept alive for days to aid preservation of the remains. When the family moved, the urns would sometimes be moved as well and buried again in the new house.

Culturally, the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí were to a large extent related to the other ethnic groups of southeastern Rondônia and shared certain specific traits, such as the use by shamans of rapé (or paricá), a hallucinogenic powder based on angico (Anadenanthera peregrina) seeds, to communicate with the spirits. The marico, a crochet bag hand tied by the women, made of yarn spun out of fibres from tucuma or buriti leaves, is also characteristic of the southern Rondônian peoples. Ethno-historian Denise Maldi (1991) defines the “Marico Cultural Complex” by these characteristics. The cultural area includes several Tupí speaking groups, both Jabutí speaking groups, and also the Kanoê, Aikanã and Kwazá, who speak isolated languages that do not belong to any known language family.

Other cultural traits of the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí are shared with the Guaporé region in general, such as territorial subgroups, ceremonial use of fermented chicha, and the absence of bitter manioc and manioc flour. The Djeoromitxí are reported to have lived in territorial subgroups bearing the names of different palm tree and ant species. Arikapú society was probably organised in the same manner, but not enough is known about their history. Additional important aspects of traditional culture that show similarities to neighbouring peoples include body ornaments and painting, music, and traditional mythology.