Saukorem

The village was occupied by the Dutch under the Dutch East Indies and they gave it its name, originally spelled "Saoekorem" or "Saokorem". A Sergeant Mandala was reported to have been posted to Saukorem.{{cite book|last=Kokkelink|first=Maurits Ch|title=Wij vochten in het bos: de guerillastrijd op Nieuw-Guinea tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6T4DAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|date=1960s|publisher=P.N. van Kampen|page=117|language=Dutch}} Christian missionaries were active in the area and were reported as having moved on from here through the Kebar Valley.{{cite book|last1=Gregerson|first1=Marilyn|last2=Sterner|first2=Joyce|title=Symbolism and ritual in Irian Jaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2wFAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|date=March 1998|publisher=Cenderawasih University|isbn=978-1-55671-025-4|page=104}} Rice is grown on dry ground in the district near the shore. On March 16, 1994, a video story named "Kaman ja Squash seed" was filmed in the village by a 40-year-old man named Markus Wabia.{{cite book|author=Australian National University. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies|title=Languages of the eastern Bird's Head|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZIOAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=2002|publisher=Pacific linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University|isbn=978-0-85883-494-1|page=89}}

Saukorem lies in the northwestern part of Papua on the north of the Birds' Head Peninsula. The village lies on a beach in a small bay known as Dore Bay with coast headland jutting outwards to the northwest of the village. Villages in the vicinity include Roewe or Rewe (11 miles to the west),{{cite book|author=United States. Hydrographic Office|title=Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXAPAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1916|page=282|isbn=0-16-077396-2}} Maiami and Manganeki.{{cite book|author=Netherlands. Ministerie van Marine|title=Mededeelingen betreffende het Zeewezen|url=https://archive.org/details/mededeelingenbe02marigoog|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1890|page=[https://archive.org/details/mededeelingenbe02marigoog/page/n21 11]|language=Dutch}} To the southeast of the village a major river, known as the Wampai River flows into the sea and the Wepe River is also said to flow nearby Saukorem.{{cite book|author=Nederlands Geologisch Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap|title=Verhandelingen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCwRAAAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1966|publisher=s.n.|page=26}} South of the village lies the Kebar Valley and the Tamrau Mountains, with an altitude of no less than 2500 m. It contains populations of heron.{{cite book|last1=Hancock|first1=James|last2=Elliott|first2=Hugh F. I.|title=The herons of the world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwtHAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|date=1 September 1978|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=978-0-06-011759-7}} The Kebar Valley further inland in parts lies at 2000 feet or 600 metres above sea level. A notable path runs through the valley and mountains connecting the village to the settlement of Andai and reaches an altitude of 1200 metres.{{cite book|title=Nova Guinea|year=1909|url=https://archive.org/details/novaguinearsul82lore|accessdate=20 December 2010|publisher=Maatschappij ter Bevordering van het Natuurkundig Onderzoek der Nederlandsche Koloniën, E.J. Brill|page=[https://archive.org/details/novaguinearsul82lore/page/n22 1]}}

The village lies on the northern part of Geelvink Bay on a smaller bay known as Dore Bay{{cite book|last=Mead|first=Sidney M.|title=Exploring the visual art of Oceania: Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia|url=https://archive.org/details/exploringvisuala00eoce|url-access=registration|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1979|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|isbn=978-0-8248-0598-2|page=viii}} and there is said to be a channel which allows boats to easily land, whatever the state of the tide and surf.{{cite book|author=National Geospatial-intelligence Agency|title=Prostar Sailing Directions 2004 New Guinea Enroute|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnHGVP_BfgUC&pg=PA244|accessdate=20 December 2010|date=January 2004|publisher=ProStar Publications|isbn=978-1-57785-569-9|pages=244–}}

A lighthouse is located at Saukorem, located 14 miles east-southeast of Saukris.{{cite book|author=Great Britain. Hydrographic Dept|title=Indonesia pilot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_gNAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1994|publisher=Hydrographer of the Navy|page=10}} It is a white 30 m (98 ft) iron skeletal structure with a 32 m (105 ft) focal plane with two white flashes every 10 seconds.

The village is home to the Abun, Dore and the Wabia peoples who made their centre in a place called Wepai in the village of Saukorem.{{cite book|last=Kamma|first=Freerk Ch|title=Religious texts of the oral tradition from Western New-Guinea (Irian Jaya)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0P8UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA49|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1975|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-05694-7|pages=49–}} The Abun living in Saukorem are reported to have children not only with partners of other families but with cousins and distant relatives which may affect the parent's views of which children are truly "biological" or not.{{cite book|last1=Miedema|first1=Jelle|last2=Reesink|first2=Ger P.|title=One head, many faces: new perspectives on the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GD1vAP8JxMUC&pg=PA49|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=2004|publisher=KITLV Press|isbn=978-90-6718-229-4|pages=49–50}} The people of Saukorem and this area of the Bird's Head peninsula are said to produce wooden figures which are known as Korwar figures.{{cite book|last1=Bühler|first1=Alfred|last2=Barrow|first2=Terence|last3=Mountford|first3=Charles Pearcy|title=The art of the South Sea Islands: including Australia and New Zealand,|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7NBAAAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1968|publisher=Greystone Press|page=35}} They are often made with glass beads for eyes and a neckband made of bark-cloth and with the skulls of deceased family members.{{cite book|last=Bühler|first=Alfred|title=The art of the South Sea Islands, including Australia and New Zealand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZ8wAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1962|publisher=Crown Publishers|page=36}} The Korwar figures in particular which are made with skulls are said to provide an abode for spirits of the departed and are believed to safeguard the vital force which is contained within the skull of the deceased. The locals are also noted for their independent production of bark-cloth.{{cite book|last=Howard|first=Michael Carlton|title=Bark-cloth in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ssSAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=2006|publisher=White Lotus Press|isbn=978-974-480-096-1|page=184}} Some of the Dore women of the village tattoo their breasts and face in a ritual which it is called "pa," performed with thorns and using charcoal to rub over the bloody spots.{{cite book|last=Mallery|first=Garrick|title=Picture-writing of the American Indians|url=https://archive.org/details/picturewritingo00mall|url-access=registration|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1972|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-22842-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/picturewritingo00mall/page/412 412]–}} The locals are said to be particularly adept at canoe building, producing a canoe known as a Geelvink Bay canoe which has a high affix to the bow and to the stern end-piece.{{cite book|last1=Haddon|first1=Alfred Cort|last2=Hornell|first2=James|title=Canoes of Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLi0AAAAIAAJ|accessdate=20 December 2010|year=1975|publisher=Bishop Museum Press|page=323|isbn=0-910240-19-1}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Category:Populated places in Southwest Papua

Category:Populated places in Tambrauw