Composing and utilizing a community history means creating a detailed account of the community’s past, detailing how things have changed, with a particular focus on relationships with external actors and the trends these relations have followed, as well as internal dynamics within the community. In documenting the community’s history, participants are able to assert claims over resources, preserve livelihood skills, and appreciate the effects of historical events. The community’s history is further validated by trend lines to build a picture of developments in the community and the direction they are heading. It helps explain in part the causes for existing problems, what factors need to be addressed to resolve problems and ultimately how the community’s vision may be achieved.