On Friday I was given the opportunity to visit the Catawba Nation Cultural Center in York County, South Carolina on the Catawba Reservation. I visited to prepare myself for the work I will be doing with the archivist next week in sorting and dating boxes of Native American Artifacts. When I walked into the archives, I was only expecting there to be a few boxes for me to sort through. Oh, how wrong I was.

There had to be at least two-dozen large boxes of artifacts, most of which were very heavy. The contents of which ranged from projectile points to large pots or vases that were still intact. I have to admit, I’m quite surprised that they trusted me to handle these very fragile pieces of history. At one point, I felt a sneeze coming on and I was so nervous about dropping one of the boxes, that I went out of my way to put the box down on the ground before I sneezed. It was very dusty in there, so it was only a matter of time before my allergies began to act up.

It’s safe to say that I will have my work cut out for me next week, but I couldn’t be more thrilled to help the cultural center with this task. Some of the boxes that I am helping sort haven’t been opened in a good 30 years or more.  It’s pretty cool to be the first person that has seen these artifacts in close to three decades. I can’t wait to get started on my job and really learn more about how the archives work. Hopefully I will have some help lifting those heavy boxes.