Sause in Indonesia

Introduction / History

The Sause people primarily hunt and gather to sustain themselves but there are some who garden and do logging as well. At an altitude of 100-900 meters above sea level the Sause people can best be accessed by vehicle. There is a road to Lereh and an airstrip in Wres that is no longer useable.

The Dasera, Winim, Buriam, Burumban clans combine to make up the Lwes village of the Sause. Intermarriage with the Ures, Maburaron, Witi, Mander, and Foau peoples occurs frequently. Traditionally after death, corpses were put on platforms but now the dead are buried.

There are no junior high schools nor high schools in the language area.

Sause women's main activity is pounding sago. Most Sause men wear shorts and T-shirts and most of the women wear wrap-around cloth. They eat sago, wild pig, kangaroo, fruit, and vegetables. Most Sause people use bows and arrows to hunt. House walls are generally made of palm or tree bark with a leaf or zinc roof. There are some roads in the Sause area and electricity just outside the area in Lereh and in the logging town of Wamho. The people identify themselves as Sause even though their leaders are determined by clan. Malaria, TB, tumors, and hernias are common physical aliments. The Sause people have no gospel cassettes, films or videos in their language but there are 2 church buildings in the language area.

The Sause are sometimes known as the Seuce people but they prefer to be called Sause.

Text Source:   GMI Papua