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The Paiter have an oral tradition, transmitted from father to son, about a time when they migrated from the region of Cuiabá to Rondônia, in the 19th Century, fleeing from the persecutions of the Whites. In this flight, they entered into conflict with other indigenous and non-indigenous groups. From the end of the 19^th Century to the 1920s, with the exploitation of rubber, the building of the Madeira-Mamoré railway and the installation of telegraph lines by Rondon, the migratory flow to Rondônia was great and its effects were felt by the indigenous population in the region, causing many conflicts and deaths.

From 1940 to 1950, a new economic cycle of rubber exploitation and cassiterite mining were responsible for a 50% increase in the population of the then Guaporé territory (created in 1943 and which later was called the “Territory of Rondônia" in 1956 in homage to Cândido Rondon). Consequently, above all from the ‘50s on, once again the Suruí Paiter had to abandon their villages. This time is remembered in songs and stories, such as that of the hero Waiói, who had already lived with non-Indians in the beginning of the 20th Century and who, though no-one believed him, told his people about the lives of those people who ate rice and beans and had pots, machetes, axes and firearms.

The migration became even more intense from the ‘60s on, when Rondônia became one of the areas of major agricultural expansion. The Cuiabá-Porto Velho (BR-364) highway was concluded in 1968 and the population of Rondônia grew from 85,504 in 1960 to 111,064 in 1970 and to 490,153 in 1980. Between 1977 and 1983, the number of migrants is calculated at 271,000, representing 14% of the total population of the state in 1980. Growth on such a scale resulted in land conflicts and pressure on the indigenous areas. The situation of economic growth and increase of the social inequalities exacerbated conflicts between Indians and ranchers, agriculturalists, rubber-gatherers and other groups engaged in extractivist activities.

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The Suruí Paiter were officially contacted by the Funai in 1969, by the backwoodsmen Francisco Meirelles and Apoena Meirelles, on the then camp of the FUNAI, called Sete de Setembro – established the year before on the same day, the seventh of September, - when they visited the camp that year (the name of the camp is also the name of the main Suruí village next to the post). The Suruí only came to live at the post definitively in 1973, when they sought medical assistance from a measles epidemic that killed about 300 people. About a third of the population continued to live outside the indigenous area, near the town of Espigão do Oeste, moving in 1977 to another FUNAI post that had been established at line 14.

The turbulent history of demarcations and “dismarcations”, that characterized the creation of a good part of the indigenous lands of Rondônia, also applies to the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land created for the Paiter. The demarcation of this Indigenous Land was done in 1976, and permanent possession was declared in decree 1561 of September 29, 1983, by the then President of the Funai Octavio Ferreira Lima, at which time it received the official name of "Sete de Setembro Indigenous Area". Its homologation was approved in the same year through decree nº 88867 of October 17, 1983, by President João Figueiredo.

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From 1982 to 1987, they suffered intensely from the impacts of contact with the non-indigenous society, as a result of the migration of thousands of people to the region due to the Polonoroeste Program (Integrated Program for the Northwest of Brazil), the key part of which was the asphalting of the Cuiabá-Porto Velho highway, partially financed by the World Bank. In this context, the Indians lost half of their territory to colonization projects and companies, which ignored the legal homologation of their lands. The Suruí even saw their lands invaded by small agriculturalists, pressured by extractivist companies and pushed to the interior of the indigenous lands. Such invasions had serious consequences for Paiter health, particularly among the children.

From the ‘80s on, several young Paiter fluent in the Portuguese language, because of the need for dialogue with the Whites, took their claims to the Funai. At that time, Suruí consciousness grew, of how Brazilian society is made up and also the need to struggle for the defense of their territory and cultural viability. The Paiter made trips to Brasília to accompany the administrative moves of the Funai and to make claims. In this context, several traditions were renewed and the work parties and festivals persisted, although the Paiter adapted themselves to new agricultural patterns, such as the cultivation of rice and a greater dispersion of the population.