Indian and Indian

One of the things we have discussed is the wrongness in the term "American Indian." The term is not accurate because as we all know this was not India as Columbus believed his whole life. But one of the things I stumbled upon while surfing the web that was fantastic is an incredible similarity between the Indigenous peoples of this country and Indian culture. I was looking into Indigenous art when I found Navaho sand paintings. I remembered something incredibly similar to this in Indian culture and decided to explore it. Sand Mandalas are the Indian counterpart to the Navaho sand paintings, and the intricacies and beauty of both are inspiring. 

Navaho Sand Paintings

                                                                      Sand Mandala

The similarity of the practices is astounding and I wonder how so far away they developed similar practices. The abstract qualities of the Navaho sand paintings are distinct from the symmetrical Sand Mandals of the Indian culture and clearly each culture's take on the art form has a life of its own. After looking into the matter further I discovered that Australian Aboriginal cultures also created sand paintings. Though I was unable to find a video I located a picture of a large sand painting. It is incredible that from North America, to India, to Australia, three incredibly different cultures all utilized the same medium to create art, and it speaks directly towards the interconnectedness of all things.

Aboriginal Sand Painting