The Hopi creation myth, which is the namesake of this journal, tells of humanity’s residence in the Fourth World, with the three previous worlds falling to its own destructive tendencies. The works presented here were shaped by a time of emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic, a time that brought so much of this kind of destruction to light. According to the myth, we are currently at the threshold of the Fifth World: a place untouched by humankind’s greed and selfishness. The seventh edition of this journal seeks to transcend current understandings of difficult topics-racism, health disparities, mental health, and so many others-and look forward, into this new world.
This edition's cover art, courtesy of Alicia Bao, is our interpretation of the Hopi creation myth. The back depicts the worlds before; the front is from the perspective of someone on the Fourth World, looking at the horizon onto the Fifth. The reeds connecting the worlds represent the paths through the “sipapu,” or inter-dimensional passages.
