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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
01:04the wild. If I'm honest, I've never really grown up. So now, I've set myself a mission
01:17to see how cultures across 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. But I'm hoping
01:32by immersing myself in the often extreme trials that young people face, I can figure out how
01:38these 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.
01:58Okay, 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
02:38in gloves full of bullet ants.
02:42The bullet ant of all insects has the most painful sting in the world.
02:47The one who is also been breathing on their temple.
02:58Hi.
03:00Hi.
03:01How are you?
03:01Hi.
03:02I'm Ed.
03:05It's a pleasure.
03:06It's a pleasure.
03:07It's a pleasure.
03:11It's a pleasure.
03:12I'm waiting for you.
03:15I'm a pleasure.
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 Eddie.
03:28My name is Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:29Yes.
03:30Very nice.
03:32You know, let's face it, it's not every day that a camera
03:34and a man comes into their village wanting to partake
03:37in this sort of ceremony.
03:38So I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day goes on.
03:58Just being given a necklace
03:59and officially welcome to the tribe.
04:02That is a good start.
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
04:40and there's a lot of concrete structures as well.
04:46Despite their remote location,
04:48the 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
05:00for centuries and centuries that we have the culture of the Saterimovese.
05:12Every time we stop, I keep getting bitten by ants,
05:14but they're these tiny little ones,
05:16and I'm trying not to react to them at all
05:17because, obviously, compared to bullet ants, they're absolutely nothing,
05:20and yet they're infuriating because they're biting at my ankles,
05:23and these guys are starting to laugh
05:24because I'm, like, literally picking these tiny little minute ants
05:27off my ankles.
05:28But they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centerpiece of the Saterimovese rite of passage
05:35is 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.
06:17OK.
06:21My understanding of the ceremony today
06:23is 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 coals.
06:45Insect venom is scaled in terms of the pain from a one to a four.
06:50And the bullet ant is number four,
06:53which is obviously the highest level of pain.
06:55To put that into perspective,
06:57the sting of an average honeybee is generally just a two.
07:01It does something to the pain pathways within the body
07:04and stops the body combating that pain.
07:07So it keeps the pain pathways open longer
07:10than you would normally feel pain in any other situation in life.
07:16So I'm going to put that out.
07:32This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through.
07:48From what I understand, it's the dancing and therefore the sweating
07:51that allows the toxins to disperse.
07:54And this is to help them manage the pain.
07:58This one is to give up.
08:01This one is to give up.
08:05This one is the most important thing to put up.
08:12This one is to give up.
08:17At least a couple is able to put the time together.
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.
08:58OK, boy, hey, you can see?
09:01This is the first time that I've seen him put his hands on a glove like this.
09:09So the ants have all been sort of secured into this
09:13with their abdomen facing inwards,
09:15and obviously the stings are on the abdomen, which is why it's on the inside.
09:20How many? How many do we have here?
09:24More or less.
09:24No one can see, but there are more than 80.
09:2780?
09:28Mm-hmm.
09:2980 each one?
09:36Oh, my God.
09:37.
09:43Taniko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else,
09:47and he will be my mentor for the week.
09:50.
10:06Do women ever go through the ceremony?
10:09No.
10:14They might not have to physically deal with the pain, but the women do seem to help the
10:19young men throughout the emotional ordeal.
10:27It's an extreme rite of passage.
10:33So why do they do it?
10:35So why do they do it?
10:43So why do they do it?
10:45So why do they do it?
11:05I mean, this is an incredible number.
11:11Why have you done it so many times?
11:23While there's no scientific evidence to show that repeated bullet ant stings improve
11:27the immune system, I can see how it could make the boys understand and manage pain much
11:32better.
11:34Is it OK with both of you that I take part in a ceremony in a few days?
11:40I really encourage you to pass a advice that doesn't put your hands on your hands.
11:49I'm very careful.
11:52Thank you very much.
11:54Thank you very much.
11:55Thank 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.
12:13The truth is, the auntie's been hooked.
12:16I'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.
12:55It's a mix of emotions, it's a blender of butterflies and knives and all sorts of things going around
13:01my chest.
13:03I feel like the next few days are vital for me to nuance exactly my approach to how I'm
13:09going to 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, absolutely enormous.
13:25I guess my spidey senses were tingling as a morning storm quickly engulfs the area.
13:30So 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.
13:41The flour is very important because if you don't have flour at the time of food, 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?
14:04Yeah.
14:08Is it always the women that do this kind of job?
14:11I see.
14:12I feel happy to make the flour, because when he comes with the flour,
14:21there's the flour ready for our family, right?
14:25Okay, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32It's ready for the flour.
14:34Excellent.
14:40Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:47I 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?
15:25I 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?
15:35Because 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.
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.
16:04If you need, I'll help you too, and I'll help my son, right?
16:09I'll help you too.
16:13Ready?
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.
16:38With the right leg.
16:39Yes.
16:48Jose is helping to teach me the steps needed during a right
16:52as a way to help deal with the pain.
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 my left foot.
17:23I know it's not complicated, but that's quite imbalanced.
17:30I'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?
18:13I've watched him almost come apart, you know?
18:16I'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 will have
18:53ever 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.
19:17And traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:28Morning.
19:30Doing work.
19:37Morning.
19:38You can take it slowly.
19:53Israel is making the gloves sort of making it hit home.
19:58Yeah.
19:59It's for me.
20:05To make the back, you do this.
20:12Here.
20:13That's it.
20:17That's it.
20:19That's it.
20:20That's it.
20:21That's it.
20:24So what I'm doing is cutting the little strips that end up being woven together
20:28in order to 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 and I also need to get ourselves prepared,
20:55and it's suddenly all becoming very real.
21:12How long will they stay on the body?
21:16Seven days.
21:19The boys being painted will do the right with me.
21:22Because I have always wanted to know the pain they feel.
21:26And my grandfather said that if we want to do anything that we want,
21:34we have to do it.
21:36Uh-huh.
21:37Tiniko's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old.
21:40And like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:01I can see it in your eyes.
22:04Are you nervous about doing it for the first time?
22:07Yes.
22:08Yes.
22:08And it's my first time, it's really important to me.
22:11I can see it in your eyes.
22:15But you're a great thing, right?
22:18Uh-huh.
22:19Uh-huh.
22:28Uh-huh.
22:31I'm nervous.
22:35I see your mom or your dad giving you any last minute advice.
22:40They gave me that it's not to cry on the bed and not to cry.
22:46That makes the singer sick.
22:51She can only cry when she's already without the bed.
22:54Uh-huh.
23:01Okay?
23:02Okay?
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.
23:192, 3, 4, 3, 4.
23:22I want to explain to you how it is.
23:27How is the tucanus pain?
23:28How is she doing?
23:29How is it the process of her?
23:33When she attacks very much, like José was here,
23:37then it hurts the chest.
23:40It hurts the throat.
23:41Of course, we'll have to breathe a little water.
23:43But another thing will do,
23:44because our hands are not allowed for anything.
23:51The pressure of the pain, we don't have to force it, we have to relax, just hold it.
24:01If it's slow, then the blood comes and falls.
24:07Then it's going to be mannered with the pain.
24:12But if the pain is alive, you want to be more than it, it's going to die.
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.
24:28Obviously, I'm only going to do this once in my life.
24:31Would it be okay if I went first?
24:47If you don't see it, you're going to be scared of 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.
25:19There's the rice, the macaroni, the bread.
25:26But it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal.
25:32It's hot.
25:33To the rice.
25:35It's hot.
25:37It's hot.
25:38It's hot.
25:41It's hot.
25:42Isn't that cold?
25:49Can I tell you?
26:01Isaiou, this is how you feel tomorrow?
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 that I ever experienced that sensation.
26:25So 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, 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.
26:52Chinico is blowing a musical instrument at the front,
26:56which is part of the ceremony in terms of attracting 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.
27:35Wow, that's quite a lot on the pole.
27:39There's a lot of ants going into this tube.
27:44Huge amount.
27:46Every one of them has a sting.
27:49Considerably worse than a scorpion.
27:56Back in the village, while the boys and I steal our nerves,
28:02Chinico sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant.
28:24It's a skillful art, and Chinico must work fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up.
28:47This is it.
28:48The sedative has worn off, and the 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.
29:25You know, somewhere where there's nowhere to hide.
29:27Somewhere where, if you mess up, it's going to be very visible to 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.
30:07If you do it, you'll feel the warmth.
30:13And you...
30:15What?
30:15Like this.
30:18Okay.
30:20This will hurt...
30:21It will hurt, but you go on.
30:23You see it, I guess.
30:27Okay.
30:28Turn around.
30:28Turn around.
30:29Turn around.
30:29Turn around.
30:30not being a poet and I'm a poet and I'm a poet and I'm going to
30:34listen to my mother, her mother, her mother, her mother, she
30:36taught me.
30:38.
30:39.
30:40.
31:00I 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, but the searing pain is like nothing
31:25I've ever felt before.
31:47It's almost making me feel high.
32:03It's almost making me feel high.
32:06It's almost making me feel high.
32:25I've never experienced anything to this intensity in my physicality.
32:32It's literally like my hands are on fire, right in the heart of a fire.
32:37It's almost making me feel high.
32:55My thought was to put it and send it out, right?
33:01But no.
33:03He resisted.
33:04It was positive.
33:05His preparation was very good.
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.
33:51It's a hard for me, a grown man, I have no idea how the boys are going to cope.
34:03It's a hard for me, but I'm not going to cope.
34:22Now it's all about
34:24withstanding the incredible pain.
34:31Taniko warned me there would be intense peaks
34:34to 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.
34:49And then I think it's getting more painful.
34:53And it's managing that.
35:20I'm going to talk to you guys.
35:38An 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.
36:13What 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.
36:52As 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.
37:03Hello, Eiji.
37:04Hello, Eiji.
37:05Hello, how are you?
37:06How are you?
37:09How are you?
37:12I'm going to look at your vital signals.
37:15Yes, yes.
37:15How are you?
37:26How are you?
37:27How are you?
37:29How are you?
37:32How is it going to be?
37:43So if you're worried about me, I'll be worried about it.
37:46Okay.
37:50So my concern was that he was entering into a situation 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,
38:16I'm 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 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 up
38:45so that we couldn't kind of link arms.
38:49And this quite a 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, you 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.
39:26Adriana, I mean, literally constantly helping me, feeding me, binding my hands.
39:41You're very little.
39:41I think it's your fault.
39:46You're very careful.
39:49You're very careful when your hands are happy.
39:52You're very careful.
39:52Bye.
39:52Bye.
39:53Bye, bye.
39:54Bye.
39:56Bye.
39:57Bye bye.
39:57Bye bye.
39:59Bye bye.
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 you know I'll never forget it
40:15I will lembrate
41:01I think I 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 all 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
41:52okay I feel a bit buttered and bruised this morning if I'm honest that level of pain for that amount
42:03of
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
42:16that allow young boys to show off to prove that are tough so they can become a man
42:34the ceremony last night changed my opinion on that
42:38it was about the community come together it's the it's the very soul of the community and it's what
42:43pulls everything together I've been fighting my whole life fighting to prove that I'm tough enough to survive on my
42:51own and the inherent epiphany of last night seemed to be that you don't have to you can
42:58come into a village and seven days later they're calling you part of their family and and giving you
43:02so much love and support that you're reduced to tears I mean that's I don't I don't know of many
43:08things in life more powerful than that really
43:20sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky
43:23you
43:34you
43:36you
43:38you
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