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8000 BCE
How old is this ritual?
this ritual is thousands of years old -
How painful is this ritual?
In 1980, a sting pain index scale was created by an entomologist which the bullet ant sting was rated 4 out of 4 in pain. -
Location of this Ritual
This ritual is performed in the Brazilian Amazon Rain forest. -
Who performs this ritual?
The Satere-Mawe tribe are the performers of this ritual. This tribe has around 10,000 members and inhabit the rain forest in the Brazilian part. They extremely value qualities such as strength and courage, because they believe it will help protect them. For young boys wanting to become Mawe Warriors, they must face the excruciating pain of the bullet ant. -
What consists of this ritual
In preparation for the ceremony, the ants are sedated once picked from the jungle. They are then woven into the gloves made out of leaves and the stingers are facing inwards. The boy must then put his hands in the glove for a full five minutes.The boy then dances with the tribe for a sort of distraction. When the gloves are released, the venom is still active for a few hours while the hand is temporarily paralyzed. To be fully considered a warrior, the boy must do this ritual 20 times.
