The World’s Most Dangerous Cultural Traditions

Bullet Ant Initiation

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The Sateré-Mawé people live deep in the Amazon rainforest and have one of the most painful coming-of-age traditions around. At the age of 12, a boy must go into the forest and collect bullet ants.

These ants are woven into a pair of gloves that he must wear 20 times (for 10 minutes each time) while dancing as the ants sting his hands over and over again. The sting of a bullet ant is 30 times more painful than a bee sting, and the gloves are full of them. The boy’s hands can become paralyzed after the ordeal, and the venom can cause him to suffer for weeks after.