The Sting of the Tucandeira Ant
- 16 Feb 08, 07:21 PM
Posted from: Parana
The tucandeira ant ceremony is an ancient ritual designed to test the strength of the young warriors of the tribe. The Marubo believe that enduring the searing pain of the ant sting makes you a stronger person and a better warrior.
By the time the ants reach the longhouse they are pretty angry, and ready to hurt anyone who comes in their path. They’re huge ants and very scary-looking, so when the shaman asked if anyone else in the film crew apart from Bruce wanted to be stung, we politely but firmly refused, with the handy excuse that we had to work...
The shaman and the chief lead the ceremony and are responsible for handling the ants and administering the pain. Having been through it themselves countless times, they have a good idea of what levels of pain different people can endure and they make sure the ants sting properly and do their job. They sit on their benches by the door of the longhouse and the warriors line up to take their turn to get stung.
The warriors line up to take their turn to get stung
The atmosphere in the longhouse was electric with the whole village watching as the ants started to carry out their venomous work. The atmosphere in the crew was pretty tense too: though Bruce was keen to perform the ceremony, we were all acutely aware of the distinct possibility that he could go into anaphylactic shock, which could in extreme circumstances become fatal.
Our team doctor in the UK advised Bruce not to go ahead with the ceremony. He also told me as director that Bruce should not go ahead. At this point, after all the preparations I knew Bruce wasn’t going to turn back so we kept filming. We had the medical kit prepared: we had a comprehensive list of instructions from the doctor and had adrenalin shots and a hydrocortisone injection standing by, so with our hearts in our mouths we entered the longhouse.
The warriors have red dots painted in strategic places across their bodies from a local plant dye, and these are the spots where the ants are applied. The chief and the shaman hold the ants on the spot with a short stick, until their long sting comes out and sinks into the skin. It was pretty powerful stuff watching the young men grit their teeth and shudder as the sting entered their flesh. The red dots are painted mainly on the arms, legs and chest, though some young men had them painted on their throats and lips and a couple had them painted on the end of their noses. There was a rumour that someone had one on the end of their penis, but we didn’t see it and it’s too painful to even think about.
Bruce was surprisingly calm as he stepped up to take his turn. As the ant was placed on his arms he barely flinched and he took the pain of the sting without much of a reaction. The chief was quite surprised and examined his arms closely to make sure the ants had done their work. But the sting is only the first part of the trial – the pain accumulates and builds up after the sting so the agony for all the young men had only just begun.
Within half an hour, many of the warriors were in serious pain. You could see it written all over their faces, and they were walking up and down, groaning, shivering, shaking and puffing out their cheeks as the ant venom coursed through their veins and their bodies fought back against the sting. Bruce described the pain as like a hot needle sticking in your arm, and it stays for hours afterwards.
After all the men had been stung and the ants had done their work, they all joined together in a huddle in the middle of the longhouse and moved around in a tight circle together, chanting ancient songs on their painful path to becoming stronger warriors. We kept a close eye on Bruce, and kept checking his stings. His arms swelled up very quickly but luckily his throat seemed OK and he was able to breathe. He was in lots of pain, but it didn’t seem life-threatening and the swelling didn’t spread any further than his arms.
The chanting and dancing continued throughout the night until morning. The ants had been placed in the thatched roof of the longhouse and watched over all the activities as the effects of their venom took its toll on the young warriors. A couple had turned very pale and were still in obvious agony several hours later, but Bruce seemed in good shape despite the continuing pain. For the warriors it was an agonising test of endurance designed to make them stronger...for us, the film crew, it was a tricky test of nerves watching our presenter potentially risk his life for the programme.
It was a huge relief to pack up the med kit in the early hours of the morning knowing that Bruce was alive and well, but I did carefully check my hammock before climbing in, just in case any of the ants had escaped...
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