Les Stroud's Beyond Survival

Les prepares to hunt with a bow and poison arrow. Being tattooed by a Shaman using traditional techniques allows him to prove his intention and commune with animal spirits. Forced deeper into the jungle as hunting grounds diminish, the Mentawai call on the earth to provide, believing their singing of shamanic songs attunes their souls and connects them to nature.

Tribes living in the most remote regions are being threatened by oil exploration, mining and logging, disturbing the natural world. The Mentawai Islands lie to the West of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. Les journeys 9 hours from the island of Siberut, navigating log-jammed river systems and shallow waters, followed by a trek on foot into the heart of the island, arriving at the Mentawai tribe.

Masked in costume, surviving the night on the glacial edge earns the Ukuku the right to break a piece of ice from the mountain’s edge and return to base camp carrying this frozen holy water back to their communities. They pay homage to the Spirit of the Mountain of Sinkara and ask for protection and prosperity through the year. Catholic influences are also interwoven into indigenous rites.

Joining 80,000 indigenous Andeans making a pilgrimage to the holy site of Qollorit’i, 16,000 ft up Mt. Sinkara, Les has been granted a welcome by the Ukukus, the Spiritual Warriors of the Inca Tradition. Traveling to the summit at 17,000 ft, he’ll be the first Westerner and only person in history to film the ancient Inca rituals performed by over 200 Ukuku on the edge of the glacial sheet.

Traveling by plane, bus, boat and finally on foot, Stroud reaches the home of the deeply spiritual Huacharia Tribe, an indigenous culture still embracing ancient practices. Wearing bark clothing, subsisting on wild plants, fruits, and fish, the tribe views everything through the lens of a connection to the natural world. Stroud receives the Tobacco medicine through an ancient initiation ceremony.

Traveling by plane, bus, boat and finally on foot, Stroud reaches the home of the deeply spiritual Huacharia Tribe, an indigenous culture still embracing ancient practices. Wearing bark clothing, subsisting on wild plants, fruits, and fish, the tribe views everything through the lens of a connection to the natural world. Stroud receives the Tobacco medicine through an ancient initiation ceremony.

Pond Inlet faces its greatest challenge: climate change. As ice slowly recedes from the North, the Inuit diet of seal and arctic charr is being threatened. Stroud joins on a hunt but sudden trouble forces the team to build their own igloo for protection. Using techniques honed by their ancestors, the Inuit, who now opt for modern tents, construct a refuge for this unexpected overnight stay.

Starting out on Baffin Island in rural Nunavut, Canada, Stroud visits the small Inuit community called Pond Inlet. By integrating modern technologies with ancient practices, the Inuit have managed to maintain their culture in the punishing environment. Even with modern sleds replacing dogsleds, a search for Caribou requires a trip of 24 hours deep into the tundra.

In the remote village of Tsihalagna, Four Shamans of the Antanosy tribe initiate Stroud into a sacred ceremony. The Shamans, or ‘Ombiasas’, guide Les as he enters a trance-state induced by smoking a plant mixture made from ramy, the sap of a Canaria plant, mixed with ombi (cattle) fat. Here he seeks guidance from his ancestors and insight into the lives of Africa’s only island people.

The Southern tip of the island of Madagascar boasts more ecosystems than any other place on the planet. In the remote fishing village of Ejijiky, 33kms south of the nearest town, Les reaches the Antandroy tribe who practice traditional fishing techniques and net weaving. He joins a fishing excursion with tribesmen and witnesses how overfishing and plastic pollution are affecting their livelihood.

Never before photographed or filmed, Stroud returns to the wilds of Papua New Guinea with special permission to travel three days on foot through the jungle to carry out the ‘Cumoutin’ ceremony himself with the guidance of the Hewa. Les will participate in the full honoring ceremony, including ingesting Beetlenut before a village of 800 locals.

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.