Editor's Note

This being the first issue of The Contemporary Pacific under my editorship, it is fitting to pay tribute to my predecessors: editors Brij Lal (now at the Australian National University), David Hanlon (History Department, Universityof Hawai'i), and Geoffrey White (East-West Center and Anthropology Department, University of Hawai'i). I'm particularly grateful to Geoffrey White for his time and attention during the handing-over period. Recently retired are two individuals who were also founders of The Contemporary Pacific: Robert C Kiste, and Linley Chapman, the chair of the journal's editorial board and the managing editor, respectively. Their retirement from the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai'i—where Kiste worked for twenty-four years and Chapman some fifteen years—can be said to mark the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.

The new line-up of individuals who will carry on the important work that began fourteen years augurs well for the future. Jan Rensel, our new managing editor, brings to this endeavor years of experience as an editor, writer, researcher, and anthropologist. Her knowledge of the Pacific region and her editorial skills are remarkable. Suzanne Falgout, professor of anthropology at University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu, takes over as editor of the book and media reviews from Letitia Hickson who has ably carried this responsibility since 1989. TerenceWesley-Smith and Karen Peacock will continue as the political reviews and resource editors, respectively. They too have given generously of their time and energy and I am fortunate to have their continuing support. The ten members of the board and thefifteencorrespondents(theirnamesand institutions, listedon the inside front cover, reflect a range of interests, geographical locations, and institutions) will continue to provide support for this journal, thus ensuring continuity as well as growth.

Given my background and interests in literature, theater, and film, it shouldn't come as a surprise that my hope for the future of the journal is for it to become both more contemporary and more interdisciplinary. Beginning with the spring 2003 issue (volume 15, no 1), each cover of the journal will showcase the work of a different contemporary artist from the Pacific. Reproductions of the artist's work will be displayed on the cover as well as inside. To reflect the interdisciplinary nature of this journal, I hope scholars, writers, and artists will submit works that give insight into issues of concern to Pacific peoples. I encourage submission of works that draw from multiple disciplines and are innovative in style.

A survey of our contributors since this journal's inception reveals that only a handful of Pacific Islanders have submitted writing for consideration. I hope this will change. Anyone who finds the scholarly style of the articles stifling might consider writing for the dialogue section, where the writing can be livelier and more informal. Particularly suited to this section are written versions of oral presentations or reflective pieces on a host of issues such as cultural change, political developments, challenges to the status quo or conventional thinking, even prophetic imaginings about the future of the Pacific. At present, the journal's structure of articles, dialogue, political reviews, followed by book and media reviews, will remain. The book and media reviews, however, have been expanded to include film, CDs, plays, art exhibitions, and websites. Another recent development for this journal is its availability online through Project MUSE, an extensive full-text database of scholarly electronic journals. You can access journal contents by visiting <http://muse.jhu.edu>. Those of you whose work hasbeen published or reviewed will be particularly pleased to know about this service.

The events of September 11th in New York and WashingtonDC have forced all of us who care about the future of our world to question the relevance of our scholarly and artistic work to global concerns. Fortunately this journal has always been concerned with issues that are not only relevant to the present, but are a direct result of attempts by...