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The Hewa and the Hidden Secret Ceremony Part 1

Survival expert Les Stroud journeys around the globe to unearth the secrets of how remote Indigenous tribes have lived in the wild for thousands of years. Les travels to places such as Madagascar and the Kalahari Desert to learn new survival skills from the few remaining Indigenous tribes around the world. Increasingly under threat, the traditional way of life for these tribes is changing quickly.

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The Hewa and the Hidden Secret Ceremony Part 1

Season 1 Episode 109 | 26m 46s | CC

The Hewa who adorn their huts with skulls, were thought to be headhunters; In actuality, it is a memorializing tradition that returns the skull to the home of the dead’s relatives. Hewa burial is upright, allowing the head to be more easily retrieved two years after death and then returned to the family home following a memorial ceremony including ingesting Beetlenut, a mild mental stimulant.

Les Stroud's Beyond Survival

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Distributed nationally by American Public Television