in the remote Amazonian Village of inhub the moan of the horns means a grueling initiation is about to begin several times a year the Satur mawe Indians hold a painful 11-hour ritual in which boys as young as 12 must stick their hands into a pair of specially made gloves each one infested with a swarm of angry stinging jungle carnivore giant tropical bullet ANS no initiate can be considered a true Indian a warrior until he has worn the gloves not just once but 20 times this afternoon Ted belra will wear the ant gloves for the first
time with 19 more to come people say that I don't have the courage to do it I have and I will do it the men face the prospect of getting stung even before the ritual starts when they head off to capture the ants a stab from this predator's abdominal spear is 30 times worse than a beast Sting the tribe's Medicine Man drugs the ants by soaking them in an herbal solution but their stoer will only last long enough for them to be thrust one by one Stinger first into the gloves according to the Satur Mar
Legend these menaces provide the perfect test of one's worthiness to take on adult roles in less than an hour the ants are awake trapped in the woven mitt they ride in angry desperation they're ready to be inserted into the ceremonial gloves one by one each young man steps up to the sacred pole and submits his hands to the Swarm their Agony is unmistakable to help distract them the medicine man leads them in a dance around the pole to be seen as a true tribal Warrior each must endure the ant's punishment for more than 10 minutes
with each Sting the bullet ant's neurotoxic Venom attack attacks the nerves causing paralysis and terrible pain and this is only the beginning once the gloves are off the stinging and burning will only grow more excruciating now after watching the others suffer Ted's Moment of Truth has arrived unfazed he keeps dancing while all around him the other suum come to the poison slowly the neurotoxic Venom is turning their hands into swollen simmering paralyzed stumps finally the gloves come off and Ted remains standing my body feels like a motor that's heating up if you throw water here
a lot of smoke will come out it takes 24 hours for the toxins to dissipate completely as the chief sees it the ritual not only marks the initiates entrance into adulthood it makes them better men if you live your life without suffering anything or without any kind of effort it won't be worth anything to you despite his long hours of Agony Ted has promised the chief he will wear the gloves 19 more times until he becomes a true adult in the eyes of the tribe I
