#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.
02:47.
02:58Hey.
02:59.
03:00.
03:00Hi, .
03:01.
03:02.
03:02.
03:05It's a pleasure, it's a pleasure, I'm João.
03:10João, it's a pleasure.
03:12I'm waiting for you.
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 pleasure.
03:32Let's face it, it's not every day that a camera
03:34and a man comes into their village
03:36wanting to partake in this sort of ceremony,
03:38so I'm hoping that things relax a little
03:40as this day goes on.
03:43Passa for him, here.
03:44Put it on his skin.
03:47It's a friendship of the people.
03:49Thank you very much.
03:50Thank you very much.
03:52Thank you very much.
03:55That's beautiful.
03:57Cool.
03:57I've just been given a necklace
03:59and officially welcomed to the tribe.
04:02That is a good start.
04:03Obrigado.
04:04Obrigado.
04:15So I believe we're going to the centre of the community.
04:20I'm not sure what my Portuguese is good,
04:22but it's not amazing.
04:23I'm understanding the majority, but not everything.
04:36In terms of sort of architecture,
04:37there'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
04:50means that they are open to the outside world
04:52and the modern influences that brings.
04:57And we're also happy,
04:59because we're going to see
05:01for centuries and centuries
05:02that we maintain the culture of the people of Santa Maria.
05:12Every time we stop,
05:13I 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,
05:19they're absolutely nothing,
05:20and yet they're infuriating
05:21because they're biting at my ankles
05:22and these guys are starting to laugh
05:24because I'm, like,
05:25literally picking these tiny little
05:26minute ants off my ankles.
05:28But they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centrepiece of the
05:33Satarema Way rite of passage
05:35is the incredibly painful
05:37tucandera ritual.
05:42Young men get stung
05:43by close to 100 bullet ants
05:45on each hand.
05:52And they have to do it
05:54at least 20 times.
06:02And one of those times
06:03is about to kick off.
06:06OK, so this is the central area
06:09where they conduct the ceremony.
06:19OK.
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.
06:41It's been likened to walking on hot coves.
06:45Insect venom is scaled in terms of the pain
06:49from a one to a four.
06:50And the bullet ant is number four,
06:52which is obviously the highest level of pain.
06:55To put that into perspective,
06:57the sting of an average honeybee
06:58is generally just a two.
07:01It does something to the pain pathways
07:03within the body
07:04and stops the body
07:06combating that pain.
07:07So it keeps the pain pathways open
07:09longer than you would normally feel pain
07:12in any other situation in life.
07:15So I'm gonna fall out.
07:32This is an extraordinary thing
07:35to put yourself through.
07:48From what I understand,
07:49it's the dancing and therefore the sweating
07:51that allows the toxins to disperse.
07:54And this is to help them manage the pain.
07:58He's already receiving it.
08:02He's already receiving it.
08:06As long as he's waiting,
08:07he's dancing.
08:08If it hurts a lot,
08:09he's sending it out.
08:12How much?
08:13Uh-huh.
08:18Thanks.
08:26And now his hands are shaking badly.
08:36He's literally got a veteran crying,
08:40shaking, trembling,
08:43experiencing a level of pain
08:45that 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
09:03bullet ants 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,
09:17which is why it's on the inside.
09:20How many?
09:22How many do you have here?
09:23More or less.
09:24No one can see,
09:25but there's more than 80.
09:2780?
09:2880 each one?
09:30No one can see.
09:35Oh, my God.
09:38Oh, my God.
09:43Taniko has been through the ritual
09:44more times than anybody else,
09:46and 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 the young men
10:19throughout the emotional ordeal.
10:26It's an extreme rite of passage.
10:32So why do they do it?
10:55So why did they do it?
11:08I 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
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 your hand.
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.
12:21I've never experienced anything even comparable in terms of pain.
12:42That 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.
12:57It's a blender 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
13:08to how I'm going 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.
13:31So, 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.
13:41The flour is very important there because if you don't have flour at the time of food, no one eats
13:47it.
13:50Farine is a carbohydrate made of manioc root and is a staple part of the Amazonian diet
13:59when 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?
14:10I see it.
14:12It's my...
14:16I'm happy to make the flour, because when he comes to the house,
14:21there is the flour ready for our family, right?
14:23Yes, yes.
14:25Okay, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32The flour is ready.
14:34Excellent.
14:41Golden nuggets of pure joy.
14:47I took the moment with Adriana to find out what she thinks about the rite of passage.
15:00How 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?
15:36Yes.
15:36Because before he wanted to put his hand on his hand, he was 11 years old.
15:40He was very small.
15:42Then I would think that 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 not.
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.
15:55I 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 will be together.
16:04If you need, I will help you too.
16:06That's how I will help my son, right?
16:09Yes, I too.
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, I'm going to take all the help I
16:24can 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, and 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.
17:30I'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?
18:12I've watched him almost come apart, you know.
18:15I've watched him make tears 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 good.
18:32When we cry, it's not a shame.
18:34It's not a shame.
18:36It hurts.
18:37You have to jump.
18:37And there's no evidence for that.
18:38No.
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 we'll make all the difference I think I just
19:03need to reset recharge the sleep will give me the resilience that I need
19:16morning and traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of
19:36passage I'm retirando dessa largura que dá pra tirar devagar
19:54is making the gloves sort of making it home
20:23so what I'm doing is cutting the little strips that been
20:27end up being woven together in order to make the inner gloves the ones that the
20:30answer actually woven into the outer gloves are permanent and and they're
20:41held within the village hall
20:51gloves woven the boys night also need to get ourselves prepared and it's suddenly
20:56all becoming very real
20:58he pega a tinta e pinta
21:01aí pra espicada não ficar parecendo né
21:04então
21:07ela
21:08ela acompanha o ritual
21:13e aí
21:13e aí
21:14e aí
21:23o
21:24e
21:27o
21:28o
21:28o
21:28o
21:28o
21:28o
21:28o
21:29o
21:29o
21:29o
21:29o
21:29o
21:40o
21:41o
21:44o
21:46o
21:47o
21:47o
21:47o
21:48o
21:48My hand is to be a great hunter.
21:55When I put my hand, I want to be a hunter.
22:01It means a lot in my life.
22:05Are you nervous about doing it for the first time?
22:07Yes.
22:08It's my first time. It means a lot to me.
22:11I can see it in your eyes.
22:15It's a great thing, right?
22:18Uh-huh, uh-huh.
22:32I'm nervous.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last-minute advice.
22:40They gave me that it's not to cry at me, nor to cry.
22:45Because this makes the singer sick.
22:51She can only cry when she's already out of the bed.
22:59Okay?
23:01Yes.
23:02Are you okay?
23:05Thank you very much.
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 Taniko'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 Jose was here, it hurts the chest.
23:40When she's coming, she's going to feel a little bit of water.
23:43Then she's gonna DOA.
23:44After all the pain, she's gonna have to be a little bit of water.
23:47She's gonna have to breathe.
23:59And that's when she's right.
24:02and then the blood comes and falls.
24:07Then the pain goes on.
24:12But if the pain is alive and you want to be more than it,
24:15then it will be angry.
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 OK if I went first?
24:59That's it.
24:59There'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, and the flour.
25:26But it also feels a bit like a condemned man's final meal.
25:32It's hot.
25:33It's hot and hot.
25:35It's hot and hot.
25:38It's hot, hot and hot.
25:41It's hot and hot.
25:51I can't let it get.
25:56It's hot.
26:09big day tomorrow it has involved a lot of mental preparation it has involved
26:16strategizing but I feel like I'm there and it may well be the last time in my
26:22life that I ever experienced that sensation so I want to experience it I want to relish in it
26:28I want to revel in it I want to explore it and dare I say it I don't want it
26:36to be over
26:42it's the day of my rite of passage and it wouldn't be much of a ceremony without the star of
26:50the
26:50event Chinico is blowing a musical instrument at the front which is part of the ceremony in
26:58terms of attracting the ants and drawing them out of their home the tobacco smoke and rubbing of the
27:17tree aggravates the ants and 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
27:45huge amount every one of them has a sting considerably worse than a scorpion
27:56back in the village while the boys and I steal our nerves
28:02Tinico sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant
28:24it's a skillful art and Tinico must work fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up
28:47this is it the sedative has worn off and ants are ready to attack anything and anyone that goes near
28:53them
28:55this is it the sedative has worn off and ants are ready to attack anything and anyone that goes near
29:00them
29:00and 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 where
29:26there's nowhere to hide somewhere where if you mess up it's going to be very visible to a lot of
29:31people
29:43once the gloves go on
29:44once 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
30:03like this
30:06It doesn't oluyor
30:09it experiences
30:10it's a cycle
30:13it's a cycle
30:14it's a cycle
30:15right now
30:22it's a cycle
30:54The
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.
32:03To be continued...
32:25I'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 type of fire.
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 type of fire.
33:56I've never experienced anything to this type of fire.
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.
35:10It's the only way I was thinking.
35:12If anything, I don't cry.
35:13It's not too messy.
35:14And it's not too much to be cold.
35:37An hour after the ritual
35:39and the pain is only increasing.
35:43The decision is made to move us
35:45to the village hall
35:46so that we can be closely monitored.
36:03But it's as close to as unbearable
36:05as I can contemplate right now.
36:10Hats off to these people
36:11who do it 20 times.
36:13Crikey.
36:13You can watch it.
36:15It's an extraordinary way
36:17of facilitating them
36:20to turn from young boys into adults.
36:24A little bit of panic
36:26that 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.
36:45This is kind of the darkest part for me now.
36:55I received more venom.
36:58Now I'm struggling to cope
37:00and my team are concerned.
37:03Hola, Eiji.
37:04Hola.
37:04Hola.
37:05Hello.
37:05How are you?
37:05How are you?
37:12I'm going to look at your vital signals.
37:15Yes, yes.
37:25How are you?
37:27I'm going to look at your circulation, yes?
37:32Yes.
37:33For the Dema and the inflammation.
37:39It's been four hours that I don't have pain.
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 of the worm.
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 that 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, you go through all that pain,
39:10and the thing that makes you close to tears is the care that you've been presented with and offered.
39:25Adriana, I mean, literally constantly helping me, feeding me, binding my hands.
39:33A sil longue all the days...
39:41Lenytr's words...
39:41There is such a bite here.
39:46According to our senses.
39:49It's too messed in for the!
39:50Tracy!
39:50If that hurt, Melissa!
39:52Don't cry, I feel very good!
39:54They hurt, fight Ichata...
39:57Hopefully!
39:58That hurt...
40:05I've never been presented with so much care and love, and I would never have got through
40:11that ceremony if it wasn't for you all, so I'll never forget it.
40:30Thank you very much.
40:35It's very good you and Eric, to rescue our culture, to lead us forward.
40:45It's very good what we are doing here.
40:50I don't have much more words, but I really appreciate you very much.
41:01I think I came here thinking that this ceremony was all going to be about proving how tough
41:08it was, you know, proving how I could do this on my own.
41:15And it's not true, is it?
41:17It'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 well on your own.
41:22I think you can let people in.
41:26We can let them help you.
41:33It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful.
41:56I 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'm starting to get an understanding of how rites of passage are really essential
42:13to communities, because on the face of it, they look like things that allow young boys
42:17to show off, to prove that they're tough, so they can become a man.
42:21Oh, it's great, man.
42:27Thank you very much.
42:27Thank you for everything.
42:28And maybe we'll be in the future.
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.
43:06I mean, that's... I don't know of many things in life more powerful than that, really.
43:20It sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky.
43:23Oh, I'll have a baby.
43:37I'll have a baby.
43:38I'll have a baby.
43:40We'll have a baby.
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