#video #ed staffords rite of passage s Episode 2 Engsub
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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 the wild.
01:05If I'm honest, I've never really grown up. So now, I've set myself a mission to see how cultures across
01:18the 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. But I'm hoping by immersing
01:33myself in the often extreme trials that young people face, I can figure out how these rituals make us better
01:40members 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.
01:57Okay, he wants me to jump up. I'm going to jump up.
02:00And 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.
02:47Question there...
03:02Hello.
03:02A etapa.
03:02What a pleasure.
03:05It's a great pleasure.
03:07I'm an old man.
03:10It's a great pleasure.
03:12I'm waiting for you.
03:14OK.
03:17That all felt rather stiff, if I'm honest.
03:20I think the guys knew that I was coming,
03:23but I think they were a little bit nervous.
03:25My name is Edgy.
03:28No, it's Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:29Yes.
03:30Very nice.
03:31You know, let's face it, it's not every day that a camera
03:34and a man comes into their village wanting
03:36to partake in this sort of ceremony.
03:38So I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day goes on.
03:57Just been given a necklace and officially welcome to the tribe.
04:02That is a good start.
04:03Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:06Obrigado.
04:06Obrigado.
04:09Obrigado.
04:18Obrigado.
04:20Obrigado.
04:32Obrigado.
04:33Obrigado.
04:34Obrigado.
04:35Obrigado.
04:37Obrigado.
04:56Obrigado.
04:57And we're also happy because we'll see for centuries and centuries
05:02that we maintain the culture of the Saterimovete.
05:27My ankles, but they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centerpiece of the Saterimovete rite of passage
05:35is the incredibly painful Tucandera ritual.
05:42Young men get stung by close to 100 bullet
05:45ants on each hand, and they have to do it at least 20 times.
06:02And one of those times is about to kick off.
06:06OK, so this is the central area where they conduct the ceremony.
06:17OK.
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.
07:15So I'm going to put that out.
07:17So I'm going to put that out.
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.
07:56So I'm going to put that out.
07:58That's what I know.
08:01So I know my heart is done.
08:08My heart is broken and I'm nobler.
08:12My heart is broken and I'm in that.
08:13I'm going to relax.
08:13I'm going to relax.
08:20If it's a lot, I have to take it.
08:26That's what I do.
08:26And now his hands are shaking badly.
08:36You've 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.
08:58Can I see?
09:00Can I see?
09:01This is the first time that I've seen bullet ants on a glove like this.
09:09The ants have all been sort of secured into this,
09:13with their abdomen facing inward,
09:15and obviously the stings are on the abdomen,
09:18which is why it's on the inside.
09:21How many? How many do they have here?
09:23More or less.
09:24No one can see, but there's more than 80.
09:2780?
09:2880 each one?
09:36Oh, my God.
09:37That's good.
09:43Taniko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else,
09:47and he will be my mentor for the week.
10:06Do women ever go through the ceremony?
10:09No.
10:14They might not have to physically deal with the pain,
10:17but the women do seem to help them.
10:19the young men throughout the emotional ordeal.
10:26It's an extreme rite of passage.
10:33So why do they do it?
10:34So how do they do it?
10:38So why do they do it?
10:41They're not good at home.
10:42It's a very young person.
10:43It's a very young man.
10:45They're not good at home.
10:49They do it.
10:52We do it.
10:53We do it.
11:08I mean, this is an incredible number. Why have you done it so many times?
11:23While there's no scientific evidence to show that repeated bullet ant stings improve the immune system,
11:28I can see how it could make the boys understand and manage pain much better.
11:34Is it okay with both of you that I take part in a ceremony in a few days?
12:03I can't believe this is day one.
12:07I feel like I've experienced so much already.
12:13The truth is, the ante's been hooked. I'm under no illusions just quite how painful this is going to be.
12:21I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
12:47The bullet ant ritual is still playing on my mind.
12:55It's a mix of emotions. It's a blender of butterflies and knives and all sorts of things going around my
13:01chest.
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, but it's occupying every part of my being right now.
13:17I'm so aware of something coming that is enormous, absolutely 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.
14:02It's quite flamboyant, isn't it?
14:04It's quite flamboyant, isn't it?
14:08Is it always the women that do this kind of job?
14:23OK, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32It's done.
14:34Excellent.
14:40Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:46I took the moment with Adriana to find out what she thinks about the right of passage.
15:01How painful do you think it is for the men?
15:21I guess this ritual is basically the big equalizer.
15:29Yeah.
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?
15:35Yes.
15:36Because before he wanted to put his hand on his hand, he was 11 years old.
15:40He was very small.
15:42So I thought he wouldn't stop the pain.
15:45Now he decided to put his hand on his hand.
15:47So we don't have to say to him.
15:50Now he said he doesn't have anyone.
15:51But he would have to put his hand on his hand on his hand.
15:54Yes, yes, yes.
15:55I think if a 12-year-old can do it, I'm hoping that at 49 years old, I can do
16:01it as well.
16:02I'll be together.
16:04If you need, I'll help you too.
16:06That's how I'll help my son, right?
16:09Yes, too.
16:13Okay.
16:14I am touched by Adriana's promise to help me through the ceremony.
16:18At this point, with the bullet ant ritual only four days away,
16:22I'm going to take all the help I can get to overcome the pain.
16:48Jose is helping to teach me the steps needed during the right as a way to help deal with the
16:54pain.
16:59You'd think that would be easy, wouldn't it?
17:03It's because it ends on a right foot.
17:07And then it starts with a right foot.
17:10And so I'm like, I want to do left foot.
17:23I know it's not complicated, but that's quite imbalanced.
17:30And I'm not really renowned for my dancing.
17:34I think I've got it.
17:43You were really stamping hard. Was there a reason for that?
18:12I've watched him almost come apart, you know?
18:16Tears streaming down his face, body convulsing and shaking.
18:21Obviously, it's somewhat intimidating, to say the least.
18:27There's no rules or expectations surrounding crying.
18:47There is no hiding the fact that this is going to be extraordinarily more powerful than anything I would have
18:53ever felt through my nervous system before.
18:58I'm aware that my mind state will make all the difference.
19:02I think I just need to reset, recharge.
19:04Sleep will give me the resilience that I need.
19:15Morning.
19:17And traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:29Doing the work.
19:37So, I'm going to take it out of this length.
19:39You can take it slowly.
19:45Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
19:53It's all.
19:54It's making the gloves sort of, making it at home.
19:59It's, that's it.
20:06To make the side more, you do this.
20:11Here.
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 and it's suddenly all becoming very real.
21:13How long will they stay on the body?
21:16Sete dias.
21:19The boys being painted will do the right with me.
21:37Tiniko's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old and like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:04Are you nervous about doing it for the first time?
22:07Yes.
22:08Yes.
22:08And it's my first time, it means that it's a lot for me.
22:11Yes.
22:15It's a great thing, right?
22:18Yes.
22:31I'm nervous.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last minute advice.
22:39They told me that it wasn't for me to cry on the bed and cry.
22:45Because it makes the singer sick.
22:51She can only cry when she's already without the bed.
23:00Okay?
23:01Yes.
23:02Are you okay?
23:05Thank you very much.
23:10My body is ready.
23:11And for the first time, I'm starting to feel more confident about the rite of passage.
23:17But Tiniko's asked to meet.
23:21I wanted to explain how the pain is, how she does, how she processes her.
23:33When she attacks a lot, like José was here, it hurts the chest.
23:40It's dry.
23:41You have to drink a bit of water.
23:43But the other thing is that we don't have any conditions for anything.
23:51If it's dry, the pain is at the same time.
23:52Without the pain, we don't have to force it.
23:56You have to relax.
23:58You have to just hold it.
24:01If it's slow, the blood is coming down.
24:07If it's dry, it gets down.
24:08Then it happens when the pain is aging.
24:12But if the pain is alive, you want to stay more than it, it will be a little more.
24:20in terms of the order of the ceremony jose indicated to me that the reason he was in so
24:26much pain was because he went first and obviously i'm only going to do this once in my life would
24:31it be okay if i went first
24:58that'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 and adriana has made sure we're all well fed for the ceremony
25:26but it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal
25:41israel como você se sente sobre amanhã agora que me deu mais ansiedade amanhã eu vou meter minha mão pela
25:53primeira vez
25:54e o senhor eu estou pronto eu acho que sim eu acho que sim
26:08big day tomorrow
26:11it has involved a lot of mental preparation it has involved strategizing but i feel like i'm there
26:20and it may well be the last time in my life that i ever experienced that sensation so
26:26i want to experience it i want to relish in it i want to revel in it i want to
26:31explore it
26:33and um dare i say it i 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 without the star of the event
26:51chiniko is blowing a musical instrument at the front which is part of the ceremony in terms of
26:59attracting the ants and drawing them out of their home
27:15the tobacco smoke and rubbing of the tree aggravates the ants and drives them out of their nest ready to
27:21sting
27:34wow that's quite a lot on the pole
27:40there's a lot of ants going into this tube
27:45huge amount
27:46every one of them has a sting
27:49considerably worse than a scorpion
27:57back in the village
27:58while the boys and i steal our nerves
28:02tiniko sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant
28:11this is the remedy of the tocandoira
28:24it's a skillful art and tiniko must work fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up
28:30in the past
28:40the sedative is worn off and ants are ready to attack anything and anyone that goes near them
28:55Undeniably, there's this surge of energy that is rising in my body.
29:07It's kind of a mesh of excitement and elation and fear.
29:20I think actually in my life, the closest I've come to this is a boxing match, you know, somewhere
29:25where 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.
30:02I'll be right back.
30:05I'll be right back.
30:06Like this.
30:08It's like this.
30:09It's going to hurt, but it's going to hurt.
30:14But you...
30:15Go.
30:17Go.
30:19Go.
30:20Go.
30:21Go.
30:24Go.
30:25They are stronger when they areze- dagegen.
30:30Oh my god!
30:42There is Spotlight blue.
30:53That's how we follow the Bible.
30:59I may look composed, but the pain is excruciating.
31:06Somehow, it's almost making me feel high.
31:09I'm charged with adrenaline and completely focused on the dance.
31:19The repetitive steps are giving me something to focus on.
31:22But the searing pain is like nothing I've ever felt before.
31:52It's without hope.
32:26I've never experienced anything to this intensity in my physicality.
32:33Literally, like, my hands are on fire, right in the heart of a fire.
32:37I've never experienced anything to this person.
33:14If you were to spiral into a panic with this level of pain, it would be awful.
33:28It would be then unmanageable by definition.
33:45If it's this hard for me, a grown man, I have no idea how the boys are going to cope.
33:51I've never experienced anything to this person.
33:56I've never experienced anything to this person.
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.
34:44You know, the pain is, if anything, it's growing slightly.
34:50If anything, it's getting more painful.
34:52And it's managing that.
34:55I'm not crying.
35:11It's important that I don't cry from the sun.
35:17Thank you very much.
35:37An hour after the ritual, and the pain is only increasing.
35:43The decision is made to move us to the village hall
35:46so 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.
36:38This is kind of the darkest part for me now.
36:52As I put my hand in the gloves first, and for a longer time, I 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?
37:12I'm going to look at your vital signals.
37:14Yes, yes.
37:26I'm going to look at your circulation, yes?
37:32Yes.
37:32For the Dema and the inflammation.
37:39It's been four hours that I don't have PIS.
37:43So I'm concerned about it.
37:46Okay.
37:49So my concern was that he was entering a situation of dehydration,
37:54which is common in this moment of exposure,
37:56and by the ritual itself, and the toxin itself.
37:58It's called a formiga.
38:11After taking in fluids and being carefully monitored by the doctor,
38:15I'm finally back on my feet.
38:19But the pain was way more traumatic than I had ever anticipated.
38:24It's kind of changed from burning fire to they've been smashed with a sledgehammer.
38:33Right.
38:39In the dance, I just sort of found myself next to another guy whose hands were completely messed up,
38:45so we couldn't kind of link arms.
38:49And this quite young girl called Fran came up and linked arms.
38:55There was just something so special about the fact that she'd noticed and that she cared enough.
39:03I think their role is vital, absolutely vital.
39:07And it's funny, isn't it?
39:09You go through all that pain and the thing that makes you close to tears
39:13is the care that you've been presented with and offered.
39:26Adrienna, I mean, literally constantly helping me, feeding me, binding my hands.
39:40I think it's just a fault, right?
39:46Thank you all, buddy.
39:49Tasha brought us a little bite.
39:52Let them as well.
39:57Thanks.
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 will remember
41:01I think I came here
41:03thinking that this ceremony was all going to be about proving how tough it was you know
41:09proving how I could do this on my own and it's not true is it it's not true of the
41:17ceremony
41:18but it's also not true in general it's like you don't have to do it well on your own you
41:23can let
41:23me let people in we can let them help you
41:33it's beautiful it's absolutely beautiful
41:51okay
41:56I feel a bit buttered and bruised this morning if I'm honest that level of pain for that amount of
42:03time just almost doesn't feel naturally I think I started to get an understanding of how rites of
42:12passage are really essential to communities because on the face of it they look like things that allow
42:17young boys to show off to prove that tough so they can become a man the ceremony last night changed
42:36my
42:36opinion on that it was about the community come together it's there it's the very soul of the
42:42community and it's what pulls everything together I've been fighting my whole life fighting to prove
42:50that I'm tough enough to survive on my own and the inherent epiphany of last night seemed to be that
42:55you don't have to you can come into a village and seven days later they're calling you part of their
43:01family and and giving you so much love and support that you're reduced to tears I mean that's I don't
43:07I don't
43:07know of many things in life more powerful than that really
43:20sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky
43:34and so
43:36you
43:36you
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