Deep in the Amazon, native tribes live like they lived thousands of years ago. Some of them, a lot of them actually, now have contact with the outside world. They sell things to the people, create tourist sites, and other things to earn them money. Some of them may even have electricity! However, a lot of them still live deep in the jungle, and aren’t part of the “outside world”. They live their lives by themselves. Children’s live, specifically, are very different from city-children’s!
When the children are born, they are given the name of their native language. There are hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of different native languages. Each tribe has it’s own. If they learn a second language, let’s say Brazil’s language; Portuguese, then they’d have a Portuguese name too! For each language, they get a new name!
At two years old, the children learn to swim. Swimming is a big part of the children’s – and adult’s – lives.
At 5, they start learning to do more muscle-demanding tasks. One of them is learning to climb tall trees to get the fruit from the top. Many of the trees, like Acai, coconut and palm, have no branches. The children must learn to do it by using their legs and arms alone!
At eight or nine, the children do one of the most-important things in their lives. This decides what part of the tribe they will be in later when they grow up, whether they will be respected, and how they will be treated. Only the boys do this. All girls are normally treated the same.
The boys line up in a circle. They do not wear any form of shirt. They do not know what is coming. One man goes to each child, and gives him twelve hard whacks with a large, bendy sticks with different branches and grasses. The children that go screaming and crying off to their parents get poor jobs later on. The ones that do no crying or yelling or running, or only cry a little, get much better job. They may even have the chance to be the chief one day!
At 12, the boys, and the girls, gather together. Here, they know what is happening. Here, they are allowed to cry out. This is the point where they turn from a child to an adult. They must stick their hand in a glove filled with 50 or more bullet ants. Bullet ants are large ants with the most painful ant-sting ever. The name comes from the fact that the stings hurt as much as being shot by a bullet! The children stick their hands in, and are bitten again and again. Some of the ants bite more then once!
The venom lasts for 24 hours. Some of the children with weaker arteries even die! They may get fevers, or other illnesses.
By the end of the 24 hours, the children have become adults. They are ready for the adult world.
Before, the children may have done simple jobs, like collecting Acai berries, cooking a little, catching fish or making simple things. Most of this, however, is just because they’re bored, and curious how it works. Now, they are old enough to do adult jobs. Jobs like collecting lots of fish, making clothing and nets, cooking meals large enough for the entire tribe, tending to plantations, and other difficult jobs! No longer can they play all the time!
Punishments for the children were often getting beaten, or else rubbing a crushed-up chili mixture in their eyes and mouth. Often a punishment is done when the children do a “bad thing”. These “bad things” are often lying and stealing. Now as adults, they must be careful. They will not get these “childish” punishments anymore. If they steal as adults, they are often shunned in the tribe, or perhaps even kicked out of the tribe altogether!
Now that the children in the tribes have become adults, they must do many more difficult things!
Thanks for reading!
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