This project of reconstruction and stitching together stories from the Baliem Valley was initiated by an invitation from Nathan Lyons to submit a proposal to the Nederlands Foto Insitut as part of the Photoworks-in-Progress series “Constructing Identity.” In my 1999 proposal, I wrote that I wanted to ‘explore the ways in which the Dani have been seen by travelers, anthropologists, missionaries, colonialists, and perhaps themselves throughout this century and, through available technology, create access to that work and a dialogue with the Dani about that representation.’ At that time, I criss-crossed Holland seeking those who had played significant roles in the shaping of the Baliem under the Dutch colonial administration, while continuing to search the extensive national archives for material that would open up the history of early explorers’ encounters with the Dani.