This week I've been working with some documents in the Congreso General Kuna office here in Panama City. The "library" is basically a room in a house covered in shelving that is crammed with documents, books, and folders with random assortments of papers within. In addition, there are several garbage bags filled with documents. Nothing is sorted much past year, if that.
Yesterday I found a folder covered and half eaten by termites, and today it was one with worms. Not to mention the mold...I think I need to invest in some gloves and possibly a mask. But other than these few inconveniences, it has so many great documents that I can use, and that obviously haven't been used by anyone in years, if ever. Maybe somewhere down the road I can get a grant to come catalog and preserve all this stuff, because without it, it'd be pretty impossible to study indigenous Kuna history from their perspective.
This is why I love studying history. I get to travel back into time, trying to make sense of the random documentation of the past and interpret what happened. I'm learning every day how doing history is creative because I could be using documents in a way that no one has ever thought of before or looking more in depth at stuff that has always been overlooked in the past. One really has to be creative and original in how the investigation is conducted to make sure that instrumental sources aren't overlooked.
It's often tedious, but the process is a lot like a puzzle, and the more pieces I find, the clearer the whole picture becomes. Almost like being a detective...maybe this is the substitute for the FBI career I dreamed of as a kid.
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