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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.
02:48.
02:48.
02:48.
02:48.
02:50.
02:50.
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 Eddie.
03:28My name is Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:29Yes.
03:30Very nice.
03:32Let's face it, it's not every day that a camera and a man comes into their village wanting
03:36to partake in this sort of ceremony, so I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day
03:41goes on.
03:58Just been given a necklace and officially welcome to the tribe, that is a good start.
04:03Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
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.
04:36In terms of sort of architecture, there's quite a lot of traditional houses and there's
04:40a lot of concrete structures as well.
04:46And despite their remote location, the community's position on the river means that they are open
04:51to the outside world and the modern influences that brings.
04:57And we're also happy because we're really going to see for centuries and centuries that we
05:03maintain the culture of the people of Santa Maria.
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 at 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 Satarema Way rite of passage is the incredibly painful Tukandera 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.
06:02And 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.
06:41It'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.
07:32This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through.
07:44The secret is to make movements for your body.
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.
07:58They are receiving.
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.
08:56Hey.
08:58Okay.
08:59Boy, are you possible here?
09:00What do you mean?
09:01What do you mean?
09:01This 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, which is why it's on the inside.
09:20How many?
09:21How many do you 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.
09:43And what do you mean?
09:43To Niko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else, and he will be my mentor for the
09:49week.
09:50Can you wait a minute, go?
10:06do 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 it's an extreme
10:28rite of passage so why do they do it look to happy hit a car yeah we have a little
10:39tip it up
10:39it's a bit of a moment for a cell joven for a woman or a little bit like a car
10:49and what's that key or the top and not the same
11:06I 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, I can see how
11:29it 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.
12:37I mean, that was a pretty terrible first night of sleep, I have to admit.
12:48The 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.
13:37You're going to mix and then you're going to do this.
13:39You'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.
14:02It's quite flamboyant, isn't it?
14:08Is it always the women that do this kind of job?
14:23Okay, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32It's ready to do.
14:34Excellent.
14:40Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:47I 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 man?
15:21I guess 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?
15:35Because 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 be able to do the pain.
15:45Now he decided to put his hand on his hand, so we don't have to say to him.
15:50Now he said that he doesn't have anyone, but he would have to put his hand on his hand on
15:54his hand.
15:54Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
15:56I 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.
16:03If you need, I'll help you too, like I'll help my son, right?
16:08Yes, I'll help you too.
16:14I'm touched by Adriana's promise to help me through the ceremony.
16:18At this point, with the bullet ant ritual only four days away, I'm going to take all the help I
16:24can get to overcome the pain.
16:38With the right leg.
16:39Yes.
16:41Then back.
16:44Then back.
16:46Then back.
16:47Then back.
16:47Then back.
16:48Then back.
16:48Then back.
16:48Jose is helping to teach me the steps needed during the right as a way to help deal with the
16:54pain.
16:58You think that would be easy, wouldn't it?
17:03It's because it ends on a right foot.
17:07And then it starts with the 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.
17:45Was there a reason for that?
17:47No.
17:48It's because when I put my hand on the towel.
17:51No.
17:53No.
17:54No.
17:54No.
17:55No.
17:55No.
17:56No.
17:56No.
17:57No.
17:57No.
18:05No.
18:05It's all liquid, all venom in her hand. That's why the pain is more strong.
18:12I 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.
18:31She does well. When we cry, it's not a shame, it's nothing.
18:36It hurts. You have to jump.
18:47There is no hiding the fact that this is going to be extraordinary
18:51more powerful than anything I would have ever felt through my nervous system before.
18:58I'm aware that my mind state is, 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.
19:15Morning.
19:17And traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:22Let's go.
19:29Doing the work.
19:37Only last of us.
19:53Iso is making the gloves sort of...
19:56Making it at home.
19:57Yeah.
19:59Yeah.
20:00That's for me.
20:06To do the back here, you do this.
20:12Here.
20:13And here.
20:15That's it.
20:17That's it.
20:18That's it.
20:19That's it.
20:23That's it.
20:25What I'm doing is cutting the little strips that end up being woven together in order to make the inner
20:29gloves.
20:30The 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 if we want to do anything that we want, we have to do it.
21:35That's it.
21:36Uh-huh.
21:37Tineko's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old.
21:41And like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:07I can see it in your eyes.
22:15It's a big thing, right?
22:18Uh-huh.
22:19Mm-hmm.
22:25Uh-huh.
22:26Uh-huh.
22:28Uh-huh.
22:31I'm nervous.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last-minute advice.
22:39They told me that it's not to cry on the bed nor to cry.
22:45Because it makes the singer sick.
22:51She can only cry when she's already without the bed.
22:59Okay?
23:01Yes.
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 Taniko's asked to meet.
23:40It's a little bit of the water, the first time we're going to have a little water.
23:43The water, if it's a little more water than next time.
23:46We don't have any conditions for anything.
23:51With the pressure of the pain, we don't have to force it.
23:57We have to relax.
23:59We can just hold it.
24:00If it's slow, then the blood comes down.
24:07Then it's going to be mannered with the pain.
24:12But if you want to be more than her, she will 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?
24:33It's you who will have to say this.
24:36It's not a joke.
24:37If you're going to move, you'll have to finish.
24:40The tucanera, if we call you,
24:42it's for you to get the right direction.
24:45And if we call you, don't come,
24:48you'll be scared, you'll be angry for us.
24:52And for the people who are watching too.
24:59That's it.
25:00There'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.
25:20There's the rice, the macaroni, and the flour.
25:26It's gross.
25:27But it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal.
25:32It's hot.
25:35It's cold.
25:37It is cold.
25:37I can't drink it.
25:41israel como você se sente sobre amanhã agora que me deu mais ansiedade de amanhã
25:50eu vou meter minha mão pela primeira vez e o senhor eu estou pronto eu acho que sim
26:03eu acho que sim
26:09big day tomorrow it has involved a lot of mental preparation it has involved strategizing
26:17but i feel like i'm there and it may well be the last time in my life that i ever
26:23experienced that
26:24sensation so i want to experience it i want to relish in it i want to revel in it i
26:31want to
26:31explore it and 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
26:51chinico is blowing a musical instrument at the front which is part of the ceremony in terms
26:59of attracting the 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 every one of them has a sting considerably worse than a scorpion
27:57back in the village while the boys and i steal our nerves
28:24it's a skillful art and tinico must work fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up
28:48the ants are ready to attack anything and anyone that goes near them
28:55undeniably there's this surge of energy
29:00and she's ready to attack anything and anyone that goes near them
29:00um, that is rising in my body.
29:07It's kind of a mesh of excitement and elation and...
29:14...fear.
29:20I think, actually, in my life, the closest I've come to this
29:23is, um, a boxing match.
29:25You know, somewhere where there's nowhere to hide,
29:27somewhere where...
29:28If you mess up, it's going to be very visible to a lot of people.
29:43Once the gloves go on,
29:45I'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
29:57for over 12 hours.
30:28...
30:30...
30:30...
30:30...
30:42...
30:59I may look composed, but the pain is excruciating.
31:06Somehow, it's almost making me feel high.
31:08I'm charged with adrenaline. I'm completely focused on the dance.
31:19The repetitive steps are giving me something to focus on, but the searing pain is like nothing I've ever felt
31:26before.
31:38The change is that I've never felt before.
31:41I'm 30 years ago.
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.
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.
34:40I 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.
34:53And it's managing that.
34:55It's getting more painful.
35:11It's important that I don't cry from the sun.
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.
36:38This 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.
37:01And my team are concerned.
37:03Hello, Eiji.
37:04Hello.
37:05How are you?
37:06How are you?
37:10How are you?
37:12I'm going to look at your vital signals.
37:15Yes, yes.
37:15How are you?
37:29How are you?
37:29I'm going to look at your circulation.
37:32Yes.
37:32For the DEMA and the inclamation.
37:39It's been four hours that I don't have PIS, so I'm concerned about it.
37:46Okay.
37:49So my concern was that he was entering a system of dehydration,
37:54which is common in this moment of exposure,
37:56and by the ritual itself and the toxin itself.
38:11After taking in fluids and being carefully monitored by the doctor,
38:15I am finally back on my feet.
38:19But the pain was way more traumatic than I had ever anticipated.
38:25It's kind of changed from burning fire
38:30to have been smashed with a sledgehammer.
38:39In the dance, I just sort of found myself next to another guy
38:43whose hands were completely messed up,
38:45so that we couldn't kind of link arms.
38:49And this quite young girl called Fran came up and linked arms.
38:56There was just something so special about the fact that she'd noticed
39:00and that she cared enough.
39:03I think their role is vital, absolutely vital.
39:07And it's funny, isn't it, you go through all that pain,
39:10and the thing that makes you close to tears
39:13is the care that you've been presented with and offered.
39:26Adriana, I mean, literally constantly helping me,
39:30feeding me, binding my hands.
39:40We're not simply trying to put it back to the hospital.
39:43I'm from the hospital.
39:46Anything else?
39:49I'm?
39:50I'm feeling it?
39:50I'm feeling it, I'm feeling it, I'm feeling it.
39:52I don't know.
39:53How much?
39:56I'm feeling it.
39:59How much?
40:01How much?
40:02I'm feeling it.
40:03How much?
40:05I've 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
40:20I'm going to remember it
40:35It's very good you and Eric and us to resgatar our culture
40:45It's very good what we are doing here
40:48I don't have much more words but I thank you very much
40:56from the bottom of my heart and my family who are united here
40:59I think I came here thinking that this ceremony was all going to be about proving how tough it was
41:08you know proving how I could do this on my own
41:13and uh
41:15it's not true is it
41:16it's not true of the ceremony but it's also not true in general it's like
41:20you don't have to do it all on your own you can let me let people in
41:26we can let them help you
41:34it's beautiful
42:04it's absolutely beautiful
42:04feel naturally
42:09I think I'm starting to get an understanding of how rites of passage are really essential to
42:13communities because on the face of it they look like things that allow young
42:17boys to show off to prove that are tough so they can become a man
42:20thank you
42:25thank you
42:26thank you
42:33and the ceremony last night changed my opinion on that
42:38it was about the community coming together it's the it's the very soul of the community and it's
42:43what pulls everything together
42:46i've been fighting my whole life fighting to prove that i'm tough enough to survive on my own and the
42:53inherent 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 and
43:02and giving you so much love and support that you're reduced to tears i mean that's
43:06i don't i don't know of many things in life more powerful than that really
43:20sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky
43:34i don't know
43:38you
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