On their islands, puntans live in matriarchal tribes led by a group of elders. Each tribe is very large, but they are close-knit and live in close quarters. As children, they are raised communally and encouraged to learn everything they can from the rest of the tribe. When they reach adulthood (their last growth spurt is around the age of 25, and if not, they force it through use of kakno'), they narrow down their roles to a half dozen, and by the time they reach their mid-30s, they pick just one.

Roles include but are not limited to fishers, farmers, weavers, pottery-makers, builders, seafarers, and mystics. All genders take part in every role, except pregnant parents, who are primarily caretakers of children and remain so until the child is weaned. Marriage does not exist; coupling is usually temprorary and few know or care who their fathers are. Instead, the mother's brother plays a more direct role in raising the child, though the whole tribe participates. When one is interested in another puntan, interest is expressed through gifts of food and colorful clothing.

Puntans like to sail the seas from island to island, though they rarely settle away from their homes. The main division in puntan society is that between the seafarers (who by necessity of their ships were slightly shorter) and the island-dwellers. The seafarers are treated as a subservient class to the islanders, but it is a loose division, and there is crossover.

All puntans honor their ancestors. There are many festivals for honoring ancestors throughout the year, along with harvest and lunar/tidal festivals. In their daily lives, puntans celebrate births and deaths. They believe time is infinite and cyclical, and therefore, they do not believe in anniversaries, as time is not considered linear. They honor the infinite nature of time by always evolving their festivals and feast days.