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The Paiter are organized into moieties comprised of patrilineal exogamic groups: Gamep, Gamir, Makor and Kaban. The Paiter are polygamous. They practice avuncular marriage, referring to the rule of marriage in which the man marries his sister’s daughter. There also occur marriages between cross-cousins; parallel cousins, however, are considered brothers/sisters and cannot intermarry.

The presence of the Baptist and Assembly of God religions in the villages has contributed to a profound transformation in their culture. An example of this is the disappearance of the pajés [shamans]. According to informants, numerous pajés have ceased practicing due to the prohibition of the Church. This is clearly stated by Almir Narayamoga Suruí: "We have many pajés who do not practice because of the religions. The spirits of the animals speak with the pajés and, due to the religions, the Pajés have said to the spirits that they didn’t want to be Pajés any longer, for the spirits were jealous of the god of the religions".

Political Organization

With regard to political organization, Suruí chieftaincy is diffuse. There are many chiefs, of the various clans and villages, and the most powerful of them have the largest gardens and customarily are more generous in providing "chicha" (fermented corn beverage), besides being outstanding in the art of producing arrows. There are also ceremonial chiefs for the collective labor parties. Each clan has a chief and the chiefs change from time to time, the position being transmitted from father to son, or from one brother to another if the chief has no sons. The most common form is for a man to be a chief of a group of brothers, although a woman’s father can be the chief among his daughters’ husbands if they live in the same house. For representing the people before agents of the national society, the Suruí elect younger chiefs who speak better Portuguese; however, in the village setting, chieftaincy continues to obey the traditional patterns.

Because they are not politically centralized, on certain occasions the lack of consensus among the local leaders has brought on internal conflicts and has made unviable the taking of a certain position representing all of the Suruí people.