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00:22I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
00:38This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through, especially when in order to become
00:43a man in this community, you have to do it 20 times throughout your life.
00:58I'm Ed Stafford, as an explorer and survivalist, I've made a career out of mucking about in
01:04the wild.
01:05If I'm honest, I've never really grown up, so now I've set myself a mission to see how cultures
01:18across the world navigate the messy business of becoming an adult.
01:26I believe many of us in the modern world have lost our sense of identity.
01:30But I'm hoping by immersing myself in the often extreme trials that young people face,
01:37I can figure out how these rituals make us better members of our communities.
01:42I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
01:47By joining them on their journey, I hope I'll learn to become a better man.
01:55Maybe even grow up.
01:56It's Billy Amos!
01:57Okay, he wants me to jump out, I'm gonna jump out.
01:59And successfully pass my own rite of passage.
02:13I'm heading deep into the Amazon jungle to visit a people called the Satare Maui.
02:19I'm on the final leg of my journey, a two-hour boat ride up the Amazon to reach their remote
02:24village.
02:26They live on the Andira River, 80 kilometres from the nearest city.
02:33This community has a unique rite of passage ceremony that involves them putting their hands in gloves full of bullet
02:39ants.
02:42The bullet ant of all insects has the most painful sting in the world.
02:58Hi.
03:00Hi.
03:01Hi.
03:02I'm Ed.
03:05A pleasure.
03:06It's been a pleasure.
03:06It's been a pleasure.
03:07It's been a pleasure.
03:10João.
03:11It's been a pleasure.
03:12We're waiting for you.
03:17That all felt rather stiff, if I'm honest.
03:20I think the guys knew that I was coming, but I think they were a little bit nervous.
03:25My name is Edi.
03:28My name is Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:29Yes.
03:32Let's face it, it's not every day that a camera and a man
03:35comes into their village wanting to partake in this sort of ceremony,
03:38so I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day goes on.
03:56Here we go.
03:58Just been given a necklace and officially welcomed to the tribe.
04:02That is a good start.
04:03Obrigado, obrigado.
04:15So I believe we're going to, like, the centre of the community.
04:20I'm not sure what my Portuguese is good, but it's not amazing.
04:23I'm understanding the majority, but not everything.
04:35In terms of sort of architecture, there's quite a lot of traditional houses
04:40and there's a lot of concrete structures as well.
04:46Despite their remote location, the community's position on the river
04:50means that they are open to the outside world,
04:52and the modern influences that brings.
04:57And we're also happy, because we're really going to see
05:01for centuries and centuries that we maintain the culture
05:04of the Povo Sateremovese.
05:12Every time we stop, I keep getting bitten by ants, but they're these tiny little ones,
05:16and I'm trying not to react to them at all, because, obviously, compared to bullet ants,
05:19they're absolutely nothing, and yet they're infuriating, because they're biting on my ankles,
05:22and these guys are starting to laugh, because I'm, like, literally picking these tiny little
05:26minute ants off my ankles, but they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centrepiece of the Sateremo way rite of passage is the incredibly painful tucandera ritual.
05:42Young men get stung by close to 100 bullet ants on each hand.
05:52And they have to do it at least 20 times.
06:01And one of those times is about to kick off.
06:06OK, so this is the central area where they conduct the ceremony.
06:19OK.
06:21My understanding of the ceremony today is that these guys are veterans.
06:25One of them has done it 34 times.
06:29It's all becoming a little bit real.
06:40It's been likened to walking on hot coves.
06:45Insect venom is scaled in terms of the pain from a one to a four.
06:50And the bullet ant is number four, which is, obviously, the highest level of pain.
06:55To put that into perspective, the sting of an average honeybee is generally just a two.
07:01It does something to the pain pathways within the body and stops the body combating that pain.
07:07So it keeps the pain pathways open longer than you would normally feel pain in any other situation in life.
07:15I'm prepared.
07:32So this is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through.
07:48From what I understand, it's the dancing and therefore the sweating that allows the toxins to disperse.
07:54And this is to help them manage the pain.
07:58He's already receiving.
08:01He's already receiving.
08:06He's already receiving.
08:07He's still dancing.
08:08If it hurts a lot, he's sending him out.
08:12One more thing.
08:13Yes.
08:26And now his hands are shaking badly.
08:36He's literally got a veteran crying, shaking, trembling.
08:43Experiencing a level of pain that I know I have never felt in my life before.
08:49It's scary.
08:56Hey.
08:58Okay.
08:59What?
08:59Are your paws over here?
09:00What are you doing?
09:01What are you doing?
09:01What are you doing?
09:02This is the first time that I've seen bullet ants on a glove like this.
09:09so the ants have all been sort of secured into this with their abdomen facing inwards
09:15and obviously the stings are on the abdomen and which is why it's on the inside
09:21quantos quantos ten aqui mas o menos ninguém confere mas tem mais um como os mais oitenta oitenta oitenta cada
09:42um Taniko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else and he will be my mentor for the
10:01week do women ever go through the ceremony no they might not have to physically deal with the pain
10:17but the women do seem to help the young men throughout the emotional ordeal
10:26it's an extreme rite of passage
10:33so why do they do it
10:35so why do they do it
10:36Please be well, please give me a post.
10:39I'm proud of you guys.
10:41For years, I'm a grown guy.
10:45And then I started to learn a piece of stuff,
10:51and then I used to learn a piece of stuff.
11:02I used to learn a piece of stuff.
11:03We had to play a piece of stuff.
11:04I already done it several times.
11:08I mean, this is an incredible number.
11:10Why have you done it so many times?
11:23While there's no scientific evidence to show that repeated bullet ant stings
11:27improve the immune system, I can see how it could make the boys understand
11:31and manage pain much better.
11:34Is it okay with both of you that I take part in a ceremony in a few days?
11:40I really encourage you to give advice that you don't put in your hand.
11:48Good morning.
11:49You want to fight?
11:51Very careful.
11:52Thank you very much.
11:54Thank you very much.
11:56Thank you very much.
11:56Thank you very much.
12:03I can't believe this is day one.
12:07I feel like I've experienced so much already.
12:12The truth is, the auntie's been hooked.
12:15I'm under no illusions just quite how painful this is going to be.
12:20I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
12:47The bullet ant ritual is still playing on my mind.
12:51The bullet ant ritual is still playing on my mind.
12:55It's a mix of emotions.
12:56It's a blend of butterflies and knives and all sorts of things going around my chest.
13:02I feel like the next few days are vital for me to nuance exactly my approach to how I'm going
13:09to conduct myself during the ceremony.
13:11But it's occupying every part of my being right now.
13:17I'm so aware of something coming that is enormous.
13:22Absolutely enormous.
13:25I guess my spidey senses were tingling as a morning storm quickly engulfs the area.
13:31So, while we wait for it to pass, Adriana asked me to help prepare some food for their meals.
13:36You're going to mix and then you're going to do this.
13:41The flour is very important.
13:43Because if you don't have the flour, no one eats it.
13:50Farine is a carbohydrate made of manioc root.
13:56And is a staple part of the Amazonian diet when there is no fish or meat to eat.
14:01It's quite flamboyant, isn't it?
14:03Yeah.
14:08Is it always the women that do this kind of job?
14:11Yes, yes.
14:12This is my...
14:16I'm happy to make the flour, because when he comes to the house,
14:21there's the flour ready for our family, right?
14:23Yes.
14:25Okay, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32The flour is ready.
14:34Excellent.
14:40Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:46I took the moment with Adriana to find out what she thinks about the rite of passage.
15:01How painful do you think it is for the man?
15:14How painful do you think it is for the man?
15:17I think it is for the man who is a little bit of a man.
15:25I think this ritual is basically the big equalizer.
15:29You didn't want him to do it initially, and you've now decided that you do want him to do it.
15:34Why have you changed your mind?
15:49Yes.
15:54Yes.
15:55Yes.
15:55Yes.
15:55Yes, yes, yes, yes.
16:37Whoo.
16:41All right.
16:42And we've walked?
16:44Yes.
16:45Yes.
16:48Jose is helping to teach me the steps needed during the right as a way to help deal with the
16:53pain
16:58you think that would be easy wouldn't it
17:03it's because it ends on a right foot and then it starts with the right foot and so I'm like
17:11I wanted to left foot I know it's not complicated but that's quite imbalanced
17:30I'm not really renowned for my dancing I think I've got it
17:43you were really stamping hard was there a reason for that
17:46não é porque momento que eu meti minha mão na luva porque eu além dela a dor maior que eu
17:56já senti
17:57foi só dela aí da feita que o primeiro match é o que primeiro fica com tudo líquido dela com
18:06tudo veneno na mão por isso que a dor é mais forte
18:09I watched him almost come apart you know tears streaming down his face body convulsing and
18:19shaking that obviously it's somewhat intimidating to say the least
18:27there's no rules or expectations surrounding crying ela faz bem quando a gente chora isso
18:33não é vergonha não é nada disso não dói tem que soltar
18:46there is no hiding the fact that this is going to be extra ordinarily more powerful than
18:52anything I will have ever felt through my nervous system before
18:58I'm aware that my mind state is will make all the difference I think I just need to reset recharge
19:04sleep will give me the resilience that I need
19:16morning and traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage
19:22get justice
19:23le and仔
19:28do the work
19:36do the work
19:53Izzo is making the gloves sort of making it hit home.
19:58Yeah.
19:59Yeah.
20:00That's right.
20:05To do the back here, you do this.
20:11Here.
20:13And here.
20:15That's it.
20:24So what I'm doing is cutting the little strips that end up being woven together in order
20:28to make the inner gloves, the ones that the ants are actually woven into.
20:38The outer gloves are permanent and they're held within the village hall.
20:51Gloves woven, the boys' night also need to get ourselves prepared.
20:55And it's suddenly all becoming very real.
21:19The boys being painted will do the right with me.
21:22Because I've always wanted to know the pain they feel.
21:26Because my grandfather said that for us to be anything we want, we have to go through it.
21:36Uh-huh.
21:37Tanika's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old.
21:40And like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:08I can see it in your eyes.
22:15It's a big thing, right?
22:18Uh-huh.
22:19Uh-huh.
22:19Uh-huh.
22:24Uh-huh.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last minute advice.
22:39They told me that not to cry or cry.
22:45They just can cry when she's already without the luva.
22:59Okay?
23:01Yes.
23:02Okay?
23:10My body is ready and for the first time I'm starting to feel more confident
23:14about the rite of passage but Taniko's asked to meet
23:33when she attacks very much, like the José was here, it's a bit of a peat
23:39it's a bit of a mouth, it's time to feel a bit of water
23:43but the other thing is that it's the hand we don't have to do anything
23:47with the pressure of the dor, we don't have to force
23:56we have to relax, we just can't wait
23:59And if it's slow, then the blood comes and falls.
24:07Then the pain goes on.
24:12But if the pain is alive, you want to be more than it,
24:15then it's going to cry.
24:20In terms of the order of the ceremony,
24:22Jose indicated to me that the reason he was in so much pain
24:26was because he went first.
24:28Obviously, I'm only going to do this once in my life.
24:31Would it be okay if I went first?
24:59That's it. There's no backing down now.
25:02I just hope I don't live to regret it.
25:12It's my last meal with the family.
25:16And Adriana has made sure we're all well fed for the ceremony.
25:19There's the rice, the macaroni, the flour.
25:26But it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal.
25:32It's hot.
25:33It's hot, it's hot.
25:35It's hot, it's hot.
25:41Isaiu, how do you feel about tomorrow?
25:46Now that I'm more anxious, it's tomorrow.
25:51I'm going to put my hand on the first time.
25:56And, sir?
25:59I'm ready.
26:01I think so.
26:03I think so.
26:09Big day tomorrow.
26:11It has involved a lot of mental preparation.
26:14It has involved strategizing.
26:17But I feel like I'm there.
26:20And it may well be the last time in my life
26:22that I ever experienced that sensation.
26:24So I want to experience it.
26:27I want to relish in it.
26:28I want to revel in it.
26:30I want to explore it.
26:34And dare I say it?
26:35I don't want it to be over.
26:42It's the day of my rite of passage.
26:47And it wouldn't be much of a ceremony
26:49without the star of the event.
26:51Chiniko is blowing a musical instrument at the front,
26:55which is part of the ceremony in terms of attracting the ants
27:00and drawing them out of their home.
27:15The tobacco smoke and rubbing of the tree aggravates the ants
27:18and drives them out of their nest, ready to sting.
27:34Wow, that's quite a lot on the pole.
27:40There's a lot of ants going into this tube.
27:44A huge amount.
27:46Every one of them has a sting considerably worse than a scorpion.
27:56Back in the village,
27:58while the boys and I steal our nerves,
28:02Tiniko sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant.
28:24It's a skillful art and Tiniko must work fast
28:27to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up.
28:39What then?
28:41It's a skillful art.
28:47This is it!
28:48The sedative has worn off and the ants are ready to attack anything
28:51and anyone that goes near them.
28:55undeniably there's this surge of energy that is rising in my body
29:06it's kind of a mesh of excitement and elation and fear
29:20i think actually in my life the the closest i've come to this is um a boxing match you know
29:25somewhere where there's nowhere to hide somewhere where if you mess up it's going to be very visible
29:30to a lot of people
29:43once the gloves go on i'll be entering a world of pain that i've never felt before
29:50so the ants are going into the gloves now being tied up
29:54and there will be nothing i can do to stop it for over 12 hours
30:05ordeal
30:06like it
30:06so you go
30:09like that
30:18and candles
30:20all are
30:21me
30:23I live the same, I live the same.
30:27I live the same.
30:28because it's not really okay
30:30but when mems are you
30:33now
30:58I may look composed, but the pain
31:02is excruciating. Somehow it's almost making me feel high. I'm charged with
31:10adrenaline and completely focused on the dance. The repetitive steps are giving
31:20me something to focus on, but the searing pain is like nothing I've ever felt
31:54before.
31:56So
32:07so
32:09so
32:11so
32:26I've never experienced anything to this intensity in my physicality. Literally like my hands are on fire, right in the
32:35right in the heart of a fire.
32:55This is a
32:57very
32:58very
32:58very
32:59very
33:00very
33:00very
33:00very
33:01very
33:01but no
33:02he resisted positively. The preparation was very good.
33:14If you were to spiral into a panic with this level of pain, it would be awful.
33:30then
33:31unmanageable by definition.
33:45If it's this hard for me, a grown man, I have no idea how the boys are going to cope.
33:51well, no
33:51whatever?
33:53well, but theincident
34:09of the part is
34:13the most important
34:13thing about this. so not
34:20not
34:20any
34:22Now it's all about withstanding the incredible pain.
34:31Taniko warned me there would be intense peaks to this pain.
34:37It feels like I'm hitting the first of these now.
34:41I guess this is now the phase where there's no abatement.
34:44The pain is, if anything, it's growing slightly.
34:49Then I think it's getting more painful.
34:53And it's managing that.
35:20I'm going to talk to you guys.
35:37An hour after the ritual and the pain is only increasing.
35:43The decision is made to move us to the village hall so that we can be closely monitored.
36:03But it's as close to as unbearable as I can contemplate right now.
36:10Hats off to these people who do it 20 times.
36:13Crikey.
36:13What an extraordinary way of facilitating them to turn from young boys into adults.
36:24A little bit of panic that the pain is still as bad as it is.
36:29That I'm just trying to calm within myself.
36:38It's kind of the darkest part for me now.
36:52It's kind of the darkest part for me now.
36:55It's a very difficult time.
36:56I received more venom.
36:58Now I'm struggling to cope and my team are concerned.
37:02Hello, Eiji.
37:04Hello.
37:05How are you?
37:06How are you?
37:08How are you?
37:29Good.
37:30How are you doing?
37:31How are you today?
37:31How are you doing?
37:32What are you doing?
37:39Well, it's right, but I'm not alone.
37:43I am okay.
37:45I'm taking care of you, yeah?
37:46Well, what are you doing?
37:51You've been doing so much longer.
38:11after taking in fluids and being carefully monitored by the doctor I'm finally back on
38:17my feet but the pain was way more traumatic than I had ever anticipated it's kind of changed
38:29from burning fire to they've been smashed with a sledgehammer
38:39in the dance I just sort of found myself next to another guy whose hands were completely messed
38:44up so we couldn't kind of link arms and there's quite a young girl called Fran came up and linked
38:53arms and there was just something so special about the fact that she'd noticed and that she cared
39:01enough I think their role is vital absolutely vital and then it's funny isn't it you go through all
39:10that pain and the thing that makes you close to tears is the care that you've been presented with
39:17and offered Adriana I mean literally constantly helping me feeding me binding my hands
39:33I just saw gently
39:42and this person was just a problem just realized that she's like, that's all right
39:48I'd like to cry, Edie
39:50don't you eat up right now for her
39:56don't you eat up right now for her
39:58don't you eat up right now for her
40:05I have never been presented with so much care and love and and I would never have got through
40:11that ceremony if it wasn't for you all so I'll never forget it
40:19I'm going to remember this
40:35it's very good you and Eric and us to rescue our culture
41:01I think I came here thinking that this ceremony was all going to be about proving how tough
41:07I was, you know, proving how I could do this on my own.
41:14And it's not true, is it?
41:16It's not true of the ceremony, but it's also not true in general.
41:19It's like, you don't have to do it all on your own.
41:22You can let people in.
41:26You can let them help you.
41:34It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful.
41:55I feel a bit buttered and bruised this morning, if I'm honest.
42:01That level of pain for that amount of time just almost doesn't feel natural.
42:09I think I've started to get an understanding of how rites of passage are really essential to communities,
42:14because on the face of it they look like things that allow young boys to show off, to prove that
42:19they're tough, so they can become a man.
42:20Oh, it's the last one.
42:26Thank you very much.
42:27Thank you very much.
42:28And maybe we'll see you in the future.
42:30Yes.
42:34The ceremony last night changed my opinion on that.
42:38It was about the community coming together.
42:40It's the very soul of the community, and it's what pulls everything together.
42:46I've been fighting my whole life, fighting to prove that I'm tough enough to survive on my own,
42:52and the inherent epiphany of last night seemed to be that you don't have to.
42:57You can come into a village, and seven days later they're calling you part of their family
43:01and giving you so much love and support that you're reduced to tears.
43:05I mean, that's... I don't know of many things in life more powerful than that, really.
43:20Sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky.
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