#video #ed staffords rite of passage s Episode 3 Engsub
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00:00I
00:13I
00:13I
00:22We got one get last we got one this tree is hollow and there's a big
00:29Beehive inside the tree, and it's just a matter of making it accessible enough to get our hands in and
00:35grab the honey out
00:52I'm in Stafford as an explorer and survivalist. I've made a career out of mucking about
00:58In the wild if I'm honest, I've never really grown up
01:03So now
01:06Ready guys
01:08I've set myself a mission
01:11To see how cultures across the world navigate the messy business
01:16becoming an adult
01:20I believe many of us in the modern world have lost our sense of identity
01:25But I'm hoping by immersing myself
01:27And they're often extreme trials that young people face
01:31I can figure out how these rituals make us better members of our communities
01:36I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain
01:41By joining them on that journey. I hope I'll learn to become a better man
01:46Well, I wish to go okay, Eric, but noise maybe even grow up
01:50It's belly on us. Okay. He wants me to jump out. I'm gonna jump out and successfully pass my own
01:57Rite of passage
02:17I'm currently in northern tanzania's great rift valley a vast area steeped in humanity's ancient history
02:25I've been traveling for 48 hours just to get here and this is now my final leg
02:30A five-hour drive deep into one of the most remote corners of the african bush
02:36I'm heading to the socorro community on the fringes of lake easi
02:40A place often called the cradle of mankind and where human remains dating back around 2 million years were discovered
02:52I'm here to live with the hunter and from what I know of their right of passage into adulthood
02:57It involves using expert tracking and bush kills to find honey and big game
03:02The Hadza have been surviving on these lands for over 50 000 years
03:08And one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes left in the world
03:22Okay, one of the local Hadza boys is just come out. It's nice to see a smiling face. Hello, mate
03:34I
03:35Guys
03:37I
03:38Ed
03:39Ed
03:42Ed
03:43Anabawa
03:44Anabawa
03:45Anabawa
04:08Anabawa
04:16Anabawa
04:17Anabawa
04:19Anabawa
04:20Anabawa
04:21Anabawa
04:21Anabawa
04:24Anabawa
04:27Anabawa
04:31Anabawa
04:33Anabawa
04:34Anabawa
04:34Anabawa
04:34Anabawa
04:37Anabawa
04:52Not only do I not speak their language, but I can barely pronounce their names.
04:57This could be a challenging week.
05:00I appreciate being allowed to come and live with you for a small period of time in your
05:04community.
05:05The key thing for me coming here is to learn about how you guys transition young men into
05:10adults.
05:11And if it's okay with you, the thing that I'm really, really interested in learning about
05:15is how you hunt for the honey and extract the honey from wild sources.
05:24Thank you very much, mate.
05:25Thank you very much.
05:54All the awkwardnesses of being introduced to a tribe, we're straight out on a hunt.
06:00Hats of camps are named after their best hunters, with this community named after Socorro.
06:14His right-hand man is 17-year-old Gonga.
06:17His right-hand man is 17-year-old
06:47is not for picky eaters I reckon they like squirrel consisting of over 30
06:54different wild mammals including monkeys porcupines budgers and impala
07:03to fight if I yeah other end other end other end other end amazing it's good water is good
07:25water mate yes Wow I mean that's so cool isn't it look at that that's extraordinary
07:31look it's cut the bottom drunk out the bottom because he didn't know that you
07:36could unscrew the top why would you just just show doesn't it how divorced from
07:43everyday life this place is thank God that plastic still hasn't infiltrated this
07:48corner of the world yet nice you've got a quite a big tuberous root being exposed
07:58now just take a look it's good is it what's it called so I yeah door I yeah
08:16halfway between a potato and a kind of a cucumber it's got you kind of got that
08:20watery inside like a cucumber has but with the flavor of your potato what are we
08:32looking for me well I'll be not a quotation of the back of a week I in a
08:37great call you talk we see the back to double and any double but support for
08:41the summer summer okay cool looking for honey perhaps a boy to transition into
08:48manhood and complete their rite of passage they must prove themselves as a
08:52provider for the community so although facing an angry swarm of bees seems
08:58daunting it's a primary food source for the Hatsa people so it's something I
09:04must help them collect if I'm to pass my own rite of passage
09:14I call my boss no I call barack by the bed I had not bad and give each other
09:23barman the white wax on the exterior of a bees nest means that fees are actively
09:28building new combs which should hopefully be overflowing with fresh honey how do you
09:34get the honey out of that
09:34what I said let it look good that the letter was a lot of water to call to do
09:51what's the book that's all the cool cool do your steep house if I'll attend there
09:56Wow okay with the hive more than 10 meters above the ground it's not exactly the kind of place that
10:03want to be stung by a swarm of angry bees i'm not sure i particularly want to go climbing up
10:08that one
10:09to make it even more precarious the only way to climb is by using homemade wooden pegs
10:21with only one squirrel successfully hunted and now shifting our focus to honey
10:25we've returned home with little food
10:38she looked really hungry
10:41i'm very grateful that that tuberous rube got given to her she looked really hungry
10:55the hats as traditional hunting grounds have been whittled away to only 10 percent of what it was
11:00just 50 years ago meaning less game to hunt for food yeah there's a lot of little mouths to feed
11:10not that long ago the hatter could easily feast on giraffes elephant and their favorite baboons
11:17but that looks like a distant memory today
11:23dead posh service this is
11:27thank you this is perfect
11:28you like it like it like it like it like it like it like it like it like it means
11:31lie down
11:36thank you mate thank you thank you this is cool
11:41so basically this is my accommodation for the next week
11:48i don't want to become another mouth to feed
11:52making my need to help provide honey for this community all the more vital
11:58that you can go out how many do we need to meet pepper
12:10gonga some of the guys were saying there's a girl that you want to get married to
12:14i've got kind of girls
12:15Oh, cool, man.
12:17Have you known him a long time, then?
12:19Oh, yeah.
12:20Not long.
12:21What's her name?
12:23Shumuha.
12:24Shumuha.
12:45For a Hadza boy to complete their rite of passage and marry,
12:49they must prove to the bride's parents
12:51that they can provide for and protect a family.
12:54But right now, it looks like we're off to slay vampires.
13:00And climbing a ten-metre-high baobab tree
13:02to raid a hive filled with bees sounds just as daunting.
13:08The beehive, right in the crux of that,
13:11say about ten metres off the floor.
13:15That's why we're here.
13:18That's why we're here.
13:21Let's go, let's go.
13:31A baobab tree like this could easily be 2,000 years old.
13:36Archaeological evidence found in this region
13:38reveals that Hadza have lived on these lands for over 50,000 years,
13:42which means their ancestors were likely hunting and raiding beehives like this
13:46during the Stone Age.
13:48Ganga's skill level of being able to hang on to a little peg
13:53while standing on a little peg,
13:55whilst banging in a little peg, is crazy.
13:59The East African lowland honeybee is one of the most aggressive bee species in the world,
14:04making up half of the infamous Africanised bee hybrid, known as the killer bee.
14:11He's almost at the top now, though.
14:14He's almost at the top now, though.
14:25One wrong move, and the bees could swarm Ganga and us.
14:30You can hear them up there.
14:32They are angry.
14:35I'd love to get stuck in and help,
14:37but Socorro says this is no job for a newbie.
14:42And this time, I'd have to agree.
14:44Uh-huh.
15:04Got it!
15:06Despite still being stoned,
15:08they push through the pain to access the prized honey.
15:15The only problem now is getting all the liquid gold down.
15:40Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've got it.
15:44Got it?
15:49Oh, look at that. Beautiful.
16:00Yeah? Are you sure?
16:04Oh, my God, that was amazing.
16:08Needless to say, that's one of the best-tasting honeys I've ever tasted.
16:13That tastes extraordinary.
16:16To have that as part of your natural diet.
16:21You can see why it's worth the effort of making all the steaks
16:25and going up into the tree and risking your life.
16:29Ain't no knocking on doors, we knocking it down.
16:32Coliseum floors shine and reflect off the crown.
16:34Sneakers weak and clean, it wreck the sound.
16:37When I pivot off the good foot and bounce out of bounds.
16:40Well done, mate. Congratulations.
16:43Well done.
16:45Did you get stung much?
16:47Ding, ding, ding, ding.
16:48Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
16:55Get some honey down your mate.
16:58But this honey isn't really for eating.
17:00They had to also use it to trade and it's going to help Gonga in his mission to win his
17:05future wife.
17:07What could you buy with this?
17:09What could you buy with this?
17:11What could you buy with this?
17:15So you can see why it is important, both as part of the rite of passage, but also as something
17:21to trade.
17:22And the boys are so happy.
17:27And the plastic bucket of fresh honey is a welcoming boost to the community's morale.
17:45This plastic bucket of fresh honey should be a welcome boost to the community's morale.
17:50And by the end of my week here, I will have to place my own hand into a wild bees'
17:56nest to provide for the community something I'm a little nervous about.
18:12How important within your culture is honey?
18:15Clearly it's not just a food, is it?
18:17You use it for trade and stuff like that, but how important is it?
18:21But how important is it?
18:35Do you worry that when the men go out hunting that they're not going to come back with any food?
18:40Because obviously you've got kids to feed and young males to feed.
18:43That's why they've come back with.
18:46It's what they want.
18:49They want to be born and changed.
18:54They want to live in the community.
18:56They want to be born and they want to come back with their families and so I have come back.
19:00The school has to build a good place.
19:00So you are the way they can find that they are going to live.
19:00Do any of you ever get tempted to go and live outside of the Hazza community?
19:05This is a way that can be changed.
19:09despite the challenges of raising a family in the african bush had to women believe their way of life
19:15is still best for their children for them survival doesn't come from money or possessions but from
19:22community and a husband who can hunt gongo obviously is looking to get married do you
19:30think he's a good catch nice I'm already fascinated by the hat and how a young man's rite of passage
19:46is
19:46directly connected to the survival of the tribe and his future family here becoming a man isn't
19:53just symbolic it's life or death without barbed metal arrowheads gongo can't hunt baboons so we
20:04make the long trek through the wilderness to the areas only forge and I hope for our sake the people
20:10running it still like honey this is very different nice for you the toga are another a Tanzania's oldest
20:35tribes their ancestors were fierce warriors and masters at making weapons the neighboring tribe
20:41appeared to be blacksmiths we've got a arrowhead being made here and it's all using old little
20:48scrap bricks of metal incredibly simple and yet obviously it's a skill that the Hadza people don't
20:53have but what the Hadza do have is honey it's a time for a bit of bartering
21:23I'm about to go is getting offered quite what he was hoping he was going to get offered
21:43happy days happy days you happy up it excellent 20 arrowheads and two knives and he gets a pot of
21:54honey everyone's a winner it's been a successful mission and Gongo now has the tools he needs to
22:04prove himself on a baboon hunt but first he wants me to meet the girl that he hopes to marry
22:10everything
22:13in terms of honey collection potentially baboon hunting is all focused towards Gongo getting married
22:20so it's time to meet the lady herself the umko Obama community is home to other hunters and their
22:27families but with less than 400 had they're living a traditional life in the region every camp is like
22:34an extended family with many had they're being married or related to one another which is your girlfriend
22:40nah go it the koku in the middle she's beautiful she's beautiful hi lovely to me
23:11what's what do you think of Gongo for your daughter
23:21well she moves mom seems sold on the idea her father looks a little less convinced in general how
23:30does a heads a man prove his worthiness if he was to want to marry a lady in another community
23:37how does
23:38he how does he prove himself don't look at the carpet put your cup of cook a cup of cup
23:45of cup of cup but
23:46the cup of cup of cup of cup of cup of cup cup of cup of cup of cup cup
24:01of cup of cup cup of cup of cup of cup I
24:15It seems like a bit of a tall order,
24:18especially since all I've seen so far has been scrappy little squirrels.
24:22But I guess some traditions die hard.
24:24Baboon it is, then.
24:25So if Gonga wants a wife, it seems he's got to cough up a baboon
24:28and a decent amount of honey.
24:30Is it true that the rum of the baboon is the best part?
24:37You understood me, didn't you?
24:38You didn't need a translator then.
24:41And although I'm a bit of a newbie out here,
24:43I hope I can help him on his own Hadza rite of passage.
24:53My time with the Sakura community is quickly running out.
24:57So now, focus turns to Gonga's rite of passage.
25:00And helping him get his Hadza rite.
25:08Simple as that?
25:11And the first thing we need is not an engagement ring,
25:14but an arrow deadly enough to bring down a baboon.
25:18Why is it for baboons you need these barbs?
25:20Like, do they pull the arrows out?
25:41The arrowhead is lethal, but without feathers, it won't fly.
25:46And when your whole future depends on the success of a hunt,
25:48there's no room for error.
25:50So keep going around that.
25:59So keep going around that.
26:08God bless you.
26:09I'm so grateful, but I'm so happy that you are living here.
26:28God bless you.
26:29God bless you.
26:29God bless you.
26:29God bless you.
26:30Oh, God bless you.
26:35God bless you.
26:36a long long time and they have nothing you really do not need stuff in your life they have a
26:44bow
26:44and arrow they have a knife even the shelter the home that they're sleeping in is a temporary one
26:49that will work for the season and yet it's experience and knowledge and skill level that's
26:55enabling them to actually glean an existence from the environment being able to craft tools being
27:01able to make weapons being able to know all of the different hunting techniques that they need
27:07and by putting it all together you free yourself from the need to accumulate stuff and I think
27:14that's the key happy life thank you mate thank you so much
27:34okay I didn't do it all myself but I consider that to be my first handser arrow thank you mate
27:43happy days poisoned arrows ready we're all set to hunt baboon
27:59been walking about two hours from camp now it's a long way away and boys are on a mission
28:09to stand the greatest chance of success we are heading to new hunting grounds
28:14an eight kilometer hike away under the rising african sun
28:25so this is baboon country
28:29and it's stunning it's so different to the horizontal scrub
28:35if I was a baboon I'd be hanging out on these rocks up here
28:40classic baboon territory
28:53spotting movement on the horizon
28:56gonga gives the signal and we head down into the valley
29:03all of a sudden the hunt is on that was definitely a contact with a troop of baboons
29:13the shouts from that direction that direction and that direction baboon
29:18in the chaos of the chase the group has splintered
29:24I'd better keep up because I don't really want to get lost alone out here
29:30you guys are hot on the trail of a baboon
29:34or a troop of baboons
29:37I'm just struggling to even keep up with them
29:52okay
29:55baboon right in the top of that crescent of that tree
30:01okay it's coming down it's coming down
30:03that was a huge baboon exactly what gonga's future father-in-law wanted
30:12and that big ass baboon is looking quite impossible
30:18okay there's two there's two baboons moving left to right through that underground there
30:26they're closing in on them
30:29this is it with hongonga ambushing the baboons with the dogs
30:33and gonga closing in we're moments away from a possible kill
30:43but once again confusion kicks in
30:50gonga is he is constantly the one right at the front
30:53he's the one that's spearheading the whole operation
30:56but because he is so up for him i'm hardly getting a glimpse of him
30:59he's the one leading the charge he's the best hunter out of this lot
31:08then suddenly the silence is deafening
31:13by the time i catch up with the rest of the group i can immediately tell it's not good news
31:36what is very cool is that this is gonga wanted to get married found a girl he likes
31:41wants to impress her parents
31:42and all his mates are very happy to turn out with him at stupid o'clock in the morning
31:47to go hunting that's pretty cool isn't it that's what mates are for
31:54failing to bag a baboon is the often harsh reality for modern hadza
32:00so we're now relying on finding a cache of honey to restore some of gonga's fortune
32:04and save his right of passage
32:09but with light quickly fading time is not on our side
32:18we are losing time in terms of getting the honey
32:20it's part and parcel of what gonga needs to provide
32:25and therefore if we can just nail that that would be good
32:32but all isn't lost when gonga is leading the brigade
32:41so we've got one here
32:49nice okay at last we've got one
32:54tree is hollow and there's a big beehive inside the tree and it's just a matter of making it accessible
33:01enough to get our hands in and grab the honey out i'm gonna have a go trying to extract as
33:08much of
33:08this myself as possible i really want to nail this for gonga and make sure he doesn't go back to
33:14his
33:14future bride empty-handed success would also be a massive boost for me to at least partially complete
33:21my rite of passage as one of the primary harvesters of this wild honey without looking at the sun i
33:27reckon
33:27we've got about 40 minutes of daylight with the clock ticking it's now or never
33:40okay fun going stage one complete but this beehive is not going to be an easy one to get into
33:45it's um
33:47very enclosed and the bees are very well protected
33:51okay so in here yeah
34:02it's brutal work and the longer we take the more likely we are to aggravate the bees and potentially
34:09cause a swarm but with gonga's help we gain access to the hive
34:28the bees always don't think that they um can access enough of the honey from the hole that we've cut
34:34we need to open up the secondary hole
34:41with the beehive still deep inside the tree and the light fading fast the other boys also step in
34:47to help
34:49i came here thinking you know i want to prove that i can get the honey out myself and as
34:54i was chopping
34:54away and the boys are standing around i'm thinking that's not the way they had to do things these
35:00boys are a group of mates they help each other they're all muck in they all put the effort in
35:05and not
35:07because i'm being lazy but i'm going to embrace that team spirit teamwork makes a dream way
35:22oh gongo's just got stung i can see
35:38it looks like the smoke from the fire i made has done its job in subduing the bees
35:48this is it time to get some for myself okay
36:07well done mate that is beautiful
36:19it's all right
36:24everyone has now had a lot of stings it's got to the stage where the honey out but the bees
36:29they just go for you i've probably got 20 or 30 stings
36:33there's this crazy pleasure pain thing going on here at the moment everyone is high on sugar
36:40and in excruciating pain at the same time
36:43it's not going to be a big deal
36:51but i'm going to get to the end of the day
36:59it's not going to be a big deal
37:02it's not going to be a big deal
37:13That was just speaking without moving his lips at all.
37:21Worth the pain. Worth the pain.
37:26I would say that was a big success. It's not a bad hole.
37:31I'm not putting my hand in there again.
37:34Don't play yourself, better run back. We run the game, they run back.
37:39Will your future father-in-law be happy with that?
37:45Nice one, Konga.
37:52With the honey bagged, a night upon us,
37:55we have no choice but to spend the night sleeping rough in the bush.
38:03What a day. I mean, that was honestly one of the most rewarding days of my life.
38:09We have honey to speed Konga's wedding on its way.
38:14Today has just shown me it's all about team.
38:16This isn't a one-man effort.
38:19This isn't Konga demonstrating his prowess on his own.
38:22Clearly, he's one of the most competent in the whole group,
38:25but it isn't about that to the Hadza.
38:27It's about sticking together.
38:29It's about turning up for each other.
38:31And it's about having fun.
38:33And they have done all three of those in bucket loads.
38:40Morning.
38:41And with everyone from the community gathered for our return,
38:44this is the moment of truth.
38:47Has Konga done enough to win the blessing of his girlfriend's parents?
39:14We tried to get a baboon, but I'm afraid it went away.
39:18We didn't get it in the end.
39:19Okay.
39:29Konga's been a little bit shy.
39:32Maybe he's worried about the fact that he hasn't got a baboon.
39:36I think he's just feeling the public humiliation a little bit.
39:46They're all just tucking into the honey that's so amazing.
40:00Are you happy with the honey that I'm going to blow away?
40:02That may bug.
40:04That may bug?
40:05That cannot be done.
40:06My dollar could get the other tackle that in here.
40:09My luck of the war.
40:11Better or not to say that.
40:14That's it.
40:19Does Gonga stand a chance with your dozer, then?
40:38All right, mate. Enjoy your honey.
40:41Go then. It's a lovely day.
40:42I'm not going to shake your hand because you're coming.
40:44No, I'm not going to do it.
40:49Nice.
40:51Like they say, anything easy isn't worth having.
40:55So, hopefully, on Gonga's next baboon hunt,
40:57he can successfully secure the hand of his girlfriend.
41:01If we'd got a baboon, that would have been amazing,
41:03but, you know, you can't get a baboon every time you go hunting, can you?
41:21Yeah, they're really happy.
41:23And maybe you're a step closer to marrying their daughter, no?
41:25I'm not going to do it.
41:31Mate, can I just say thank you for giving me your time,
41:35for allowing me to live with you guys?
41:52And good luck with everything.
42:02This is such a positive end to quite an incredible journey, really.
42:07Gonga is a step closer to being able to marry the girl of his dreams.
42:10Everybody who's here is happy.
42:12I think they're all slightly high on honey, again,
42:15but that's kind of cool in itself.
42:16I've learned so much over the past few days.
42:22They call these guys the happy tribe, and you can see why.
42:25They have an innate joy within them,
42:27and I do think that comes from living a simpler life.
42:30And I don't mean that in a patronising way,
42:32I mean that in an inspirational way.
42:34I think the simpler we can all make our lives, the better.
42:40I constantly look at communities like this and worry about their future.
42:44They don't think like that.
42:45It's all about today, it's all about feeding themselves.
42:48And their children today.
42:50And that, again, spills into the whole happiness thing.
42:53I just don't think worrying about the future is in the hands at all.
42:59So, no, they're not bothered about it.
43:01They're happy.
43:04Fingers crossed Gonga's going to get the girl, obviously.
43:07I think he will.
43:08He's a charming man.
43:09I think it's probably more to do with his cheeky grin
43:11than it is to do with his proficiency in baboon hunting.
43:15But whatever it is, I wish him all the best.
43:18And I'm sure he's going to have a very happy life.
43:21And he's going to have a very happy life.
43:33You can see yourself.
43:55Thanks, mate.
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