A Brief History
On May 15, 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich’s Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War recounted one of the most frightening displays of masculine toughness perhaps ever practiced in human history!
Digging Deeper
Imagine having cuts and bruises all over your chin, arms and chest, a result of being continuously whipped. If that is not bad enough, an open basketwork frame of stinging ants is pressed against your body, and you are itching like crazy!
The worst part about all of this torture is that it is not a form of punishment! So, why would an entire village put a young boy through such pain – for nothing?
Well, that is how the Taulipang Indians of the Guianas, a tribe in South America, initiate a young boy into manhood. According to Taulipang Indians, the whipping purifies the boy and gives him strength.
A cut on the chin are believed to help make him an expert with his blowpipe, while those on the arms improve his archery. The agony of ants is said to ‘refresh him, keeping him active and wide awake! If the boy shows any sign of fear or feeling of pain, the entire ritual is repeated; however, these painful ceremonies are not reserved only for the puberty rites. Many people of the tribe undergo it quite freely as they regard the pain that comes with it as a form of tonic! They also claim that it help fight disease and improves their humor and hunting skills.
The Taulipang Indians sure are brave people! Question for students (and subscribers): Do you think you could ever survive a million ants crawling all over you? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War. Holt Paperbacks, 1998.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2299 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=2299">4 Comments
This book is an insane essays on things this author (Barbara Ehrenreich) knows nothing. The psychologizing approach is based on a market view, and has nothing to do with the scientific rigor of serious anthropology and psychology. To say that humans are “aggressive by nature” and justify such a thing with data taken out from their context is, at least, an attitude of bad faith and a service of misinformation. This work complements the only bad approach, absolutely wrong, like a Napoleon Changnon, about the Yanomami, basically saying the same thing that Ehrenreich says. Regrettable and unfortunate publication of this book the reproduction of this publication on this site.
I could not survive the ants crawling on me. Personally I think this type of initiation or torture is horrible. However they had their reasons in their culture and it was not used as torture, people chose to do it. I do not agree with it but I can see their reasons and beliefs and respect. Also maybe it really did help improve their hunting skills and humor.
The whipping would be enough torture for me to begin with, but add the ants and I would be out of that village. Any type of bug is enough to get me out of my village through a form of torture, but using it as a form of initiation is far too much to handle. I understand that it is a part of their culture, but that is something I could never agree upon. I just can’t understand how it could help fight disease when there are open sores with ants crawling over them.
EW! I could never survive biting ants crawling all over me especially with open wounds from being whipped. This tribe sure has a violent transition into adulthood for the males. Makes me appreciate being a girl sometimes. We wouldn’t have had to endure that type of action as we grew older.