Editor's Statement

With the publication of this issue of Ethnohistory I am pleased to inaugurate a new look for the journal that incorporates cover art. It is intended that the cover illustration, when possible, reflect the contents of the particular issue. To this end, illustrative material from the authors will be used whenever possible, as is the case with this issue. The journal will remain a uniform color by volume number, and the table of contents has been moved to the back cover. Thanks are due to Sue Hall at Duke University Press for her innovative and interesting redesign suggestions.

I am also pleased to present a highly topical special issue on the millennial countdown in New Guinea. The topic of calendrical and temporal conceptions, and their moral and political implications, is inherently important for ethnohistorians and peculiarly appropriate for the first issue of Ethnohistory in the new millennium.