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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.
00:29Every one of them has this thing worse than a scorpion.
00:38This is an extraordinary thing to put yourself through.
00:41Especially when in order to become a man in this community, you have to do it 20 times throughout your
00:46life.
00:47It's not a joke. If you move, you'll have to finish.
00:51It's a shame for us and for the people who are looking at it.
00:58I'm Ed Stafford. As an explorer and survivalist, I've made a career out of mucking about in the wild.
01:06If I'm honest, I've never really grown up.
01:08Look at that!
01:09So now, I've set myself a mission to see how cultures across the world navigate the messy business of becoming
01:23an adult.
01:26I believe many of us in the modern world have lost our sense of identity.
01:31But I'm hoping by immersing myself in the often extreme trials that young people face,
01:37I can figure out how these 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 pretty honest.
01:58Okay, he wants me to jump up. I'm gonna 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.
02:27They live on the Andira River, 80 kilometers 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.
02:58Hi.
03:00Hi.
03:01Hi.
03:01Hi.
03:01Hi.
03:05Hi.
03:06Hi.
03:11Nice to meet you.
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 Edgie.
03:28My name is Adriana.
03:29Adriana?
03:29Yes.
03:30Very nice.
03:31You know, let's face it, it's not every day that a camera and a man comes into their village
03:36wanting to partake in this ceremony, so I'm hoping that things relax a little as this day goes on.
03:58Just being given a necklace and officially welcome to the tribe. That is a good start.
04:15So I believe we're going to like the center of the community.
04:20Not sure what my Portuguese is good, but it's not amazing. I'm understanding the majority, but not everything.
04:35In terms of sort of architecture, there's quite a lot of traditional houses and there's a lot of concrete structures
04:42as well.
04:46Despite their remote location, the community's position on the river means that they are open to the outside world
04:52and the modern influences that brings.
04:57And we're also happy because we're going to see now, for centuries and centuries,
05:02that we maintain the culture of the people of Sateremovel.
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, they're absolutely nothing,
05:20and yet they're infuriating because they're biting at my ankles and these guys are starting to laugh
05:24because I'm, like, literally picking these tiny little, minute ants off my ankles, but they hurt.
05:30I might be in trouble.
05:32The centerpiece of the Sateremo way rite of passage is 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.
06:02And one of those times is about to kick off.
06:06Okay, so this is the central area where they conduct the ceremony.
06:19Okay.
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 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, 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 gonna 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.
07:58The wind is catching it all.
08:02It's been a hard time.
08:06Yeah, it's been a long time.
08:06Conforme he's been working on it, he's standing here.
08:09If it's too hard, he's getting gl такой.
08:26and now his hands are shaking badly
08:36you've literally got a veteran crying
08:40shaking trembling experiencing a level of pain I know I have never felt in my
08:47life before scary okay boy this is the first time that I've seen him hands on a
09:06glove like this so the ants have all been sort of secured into this with the
09:14abdomen facing inwards and obviously the stings are on the abdomen and which is
09:18why it's on the inside
09:21quantos quantos ten aqui mais ou menos ninguém confere mas tem mais um como os
09:2780 80 we tend to cada um
09:43Taniko has been through the ritual more times than anybody else and he will be my
09:48mentor for the week
10:06do women ever go through the ceremony no they might not have to physically deal with
10:16the pain but the women do seem to help the young men throughout the emotional
10:21ordeal
10:26it's an extreme rite of passage
10:33so why do they do it
10:34so why Bump καιanno
10:41uncoracellum
10:42jovem are you parents better noi
10:46lui morty
10:49tsaiccamo
10:50e
10:50quattel Okay u t of en not
10:53d
10:53what's fazemos
10:53u
10:54se o
10:56por on
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
11:27has improved the immune system, I 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?
11:40And I really encourage you to give advice that you don't put your hand in hand.
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. 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.
13:03I 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.
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.
13:43Because 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.
14:12This is my...
14:16I'm happy to make the flour, because when it comes to the house,
14:21there's the flour ready for our family, right?
14:23Yes.
14:25Okay, we're done?
14:26Yes.
14:32The flour is ready.
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?
15:17No, but it's not true.
15:20I 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 why have you changed your mind?
15:35Because before he wanted to put his hand on his 11 years old, he 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.
15:54Yeah, see, see, see.
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'm going to be together. If you need, I'll help you too.
16:06See, I'll help my son, right?
16:08Thank you 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,
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 a 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 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. Was there a reason for that?
17:47No, it's because the moment I put my hand on the rug,
17:52because I, besides her,
17:54the biggest pain I've ever felt was only her.
18:02The first match is the first one
18:05that stays with all her liquid, all the poison in her hand.
18:08That's why the pain is stronger.
18:13I watched him almost come apart, you know.
18:15I think, 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.
18:32She 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 extraordinarily more powerful than anything I would have
18:53ever felt through my nervous system before.
18:59I'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.
19:07Mm-mm.
19:09Mm-mm.
19:15Morning.
19:17And traditional preparations are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:22are in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage.
19:39You're going to have to be able to go of your fingers.
19:41If your fingers were in full swing for tomorrow's rite of passage, make sure it's amazing.
19:45What is it, Tony?
19:45Mm-mm.
19:47Do you know that, Tony?
19:48Of course, these young girls are trying to pull off the track of the track?
19:48Do you know that?
19:49Do you know that?
19:49To go of the track of that long side's rite of passage,
19:50The number of the track?
19:50They're doing all the tracks that are coming in full swing.
19:53So it's making the gloves sort of making it at home.
19:58Yeah.
19:59Yeah.
19:59That's right.
20:05To do the back here, you do this.
20:11Here.
20:13And here.
20:16That's it.
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.
20:45It's the end of this.
20:51Gloves woven.
20:52The boys' night also needs 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 always want to know the pain that they feel.
21:27Because my grandfather said that for us to be anything that we want, we have to go through.
21:36Uh-huh.
21:37Taniko's grandson, Esau, is 12 years old.
21:41And like me, he's doing the bullet ant ritual for the first time.
22:08I can see it in your eyes.
22:15It's a great thing, right?
22:18Mm-hmm.
22:19Mm-hmm.
22:20Mm-hmm.
22:25Mm-hmm.
22:36I see your mom or your dad giving you any last-minute advice.
22:40They gave me a letter that I didn't want to cry on the bed and cry.
22:45Because it makes the cantor sick.
22:51She can only cry when she's already without the bed.
23:00All too.
23:03Thank you, Steve.
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 is asked to meet.
23:46We don't have any conditions for anything.
23:52The pressure of the pain, we don't have to force it.
23:57We have to relax.
23:58Just to hold it.
24:00If it's slow, then the blood comes and falls.
24:07Then the pain is mannered.
24:11But if you want to be more than it,
24:16then it's going to cry.
24:20In terms of the order of the ceremony,
24:22Jose indicated to me
24:24that 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?
24:59That'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.
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.
25:36It's hot.
25:37It's hot.
25:38It's hot.
25:39It's hot.
25:41Isaiu, how do you feel tomorrow?
26:08big day tomorrow it has involved a lot of mental preparation it has involved
26:17strategizing but i feel like i'm there and it may well be the last time in my life that i
26:23ever
26:23experienced that sensation so i want to experience it i want to relish in it i want to revel in
26:30it
26:30i want to explore it and 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 um musical instrument at the front which is part of the ceremony in terms of
26:59attracting the the ants and drawing them out of their home
27:15the tobacco smoke and rubbing of
27:17the tree aggravates the ants and drives them out of their nest ready to sting
27:50wow
27:56back in the village while the boys and i steal our nerves
28:02tiniko sedates the ants using leaves from the tapabera plant
28:24it's a skillful art and tiniko must work
28:27fast to weave the ants into the gloves before they wake up
28:47this is it the sedative has worn off and the ants are ready to attack anything and
28:52anyone that goes near them undeniably there's this surge of energy um 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 the closest i've come to this is um a boxing match you know
29:25somewhere
29:25where there's nowhere to hide somewhere where if you mess up it's going to be very visible to a lot
29:31of
29:42people
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
30:05and that's why i'm going to go here and fall
30:12this is why i get their blood
30:22this is the first time
30:25and that's how I do it
30:26and but
30:26but
30:28you
30:29the
30:29family
30:29up
30:30let's go
30:31to
30:32it
30:32thanks
30:34the
30:34time
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, but the searing pain is like nothing
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32:33It's literally like my hands are on fire, right in the heart of a fire.
33:03He resisted positively. His preparation was very good.
33:14If he 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.
33:53I could talk to them all desperately.
33:56I have no idea what they say.
34:22Now it's all about withstanding the incredible pain.
34:31Taniko warned me there would be intense peaks to this pain.
34:38It 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.
34:53And it's managing that.
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.
36:14What 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.
36:51As 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, how are you?
37:06How are you?
37:09How are you?
37:12I'm going to be careful about your vital signals.
37:15Yes, yes.
37:26How are your vital signals?
37:49So, my concern was that he was entering a
37:52form of dehydration, which is common in this moment of
37:56exposition, and by the ritual itself, and by the toxin of the
37:59worm.
38:11After taking in fluids and being carefully monitored by the
38:15doctor, I 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 to they've been smashed
38:32with a sledgehammer.
38:39In the dance, I just sort of found myself next to another guy whose
38:43hands were completely messed up, so we couldn't kind of link arms.
38:49And this quite young girl called Fran came up and linked arms.
38:54And there was just something so special about the fact that she'd
38:59noticed 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
39:10thing that makes you close to tears is the care that you've been
39:16presented with and offered.
39:18offered.
39:26Adriana, I mean, literally constantly helping me, feeding me,
39:32binding my hands.
39:41As if you felt too cold, I'll think, you will have to
39:49My God is in your life.
39:50Go on, Ed.
39:50Go on, Ed.
39:51Go on, Ed.
39:51Go on, Ed.
39:52Go on, Ed.
39:52Go on, Ed.
39:53Go on, Ed.
39:53Go on.
39:53Go on, Edna, Pig.
39:54Go on.
39:55Go on.
39:55Go to the bed.
40:02Go on.
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
40:20I'm going to remember it
40:32it's very good you and Eric and us resgatar our culture
40:45it's very good what we are doing here
40:48I don't have any words anymore but I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart and my
40:57family who is united here
41:01I 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
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
41:23you can let me let people in
41:27you can let them help you
41:33it's beautiful
41:34it's absolutely beautiful
41:55I 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
42:05I think I started to get an understanding of how rites of passage are really essential to communities
42:14because on the face of it they look like things that allow young boys to show off
42:18to prove that are tough so they can become a man
42:33and the ceremony last night changed my opinion on that
42:38it was about the community coming together it's the very soul of the community and it's what pulls everything together
42:46them i'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 you can come into a
42:58village and seven days later they're calling you part of their family and and giving you so much
43:03love and support that you're reduced to tears i mean that's i don't i don't know of many things
43:08in life more powerful than that really
43:20sounds like a cartoon anvil falling from the sky
43:34and so
43:36you
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