Coming of age bullet ant glove

Bullet Ant Initiation

By Tyrrja404
  • Period: 17,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE

    Origins

    The Satere-Mawe people are the Indigenous peoples of Brazil, they are thought to have been part of the Siberian migrant wave who crossed the Bering Land Bridge after the last Ice age occurred around 13,000 to 17,000 years ago. The Indigenous group live in the Northern areas of the Amazonia's and have an estimated population of around 13,350. The ritual was created after they found that people from the tribes were becoming warriors that weren't fit to be the protectors and hunters for the tribe.
  • Period: 17,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE

    The Ritual

    The Mawé believe that any boy from the age of 12-18 who wants to become a man must experience the worst pain the jungle has to offer the sting of the bullet ant. The sting rates a four out of four on the Schmidt sting pain index. Its sting is described as both wildly painful, and excruciating in its length. The pain continues for up to 24 hours, receding and returning regularly. For their manhood ritual, the Mawé submerge hundreds of bullet ants in a natural sedative, rendering them...
  • Period: 17,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE

    Modern versions of the Ritual

    The Satere-Mawe tribe has been mostly untouched by the civilized world except for the few rarity's of outsiders filming the initiation. Because of this the ritual has remained practically the same for over 15,000 years, different groups of the Satere-Mawe tribe have been recorded as dancing with the boy with the ant mittens for the full 20 minutes everytime he has put on the gloves to show that the community will support the warrior if he can pass the coming of age ritual.
  • Period: 17,000 BCE to 13,000 BCE

    Continuation of (The Ritual)

    consciousness, these gloves are then placed on the hands of young men undergoing the ritual. The boy must then keep the gloves on his hand for a full twenty minutes, while the hundreds of ants repeatedly sting him. The bullet ant glove is then removed, but the boy will likely be in pain and shake uncontrollably for hours. To fully complete this initiation, and be accepted as a man by the tribe, the boys must endure this practice a total of 10 times. This is meant to preapre them as warriors.