Indian Girls, Swinging

Indian girls swinging, a painting by Alfred Jacob Miller shows the connectivity with nature that the people of the Native American culture practice through the symbol of a girl swinging.

In the painting, a young Native American girl is topless and she is swinging on the branch of a tree and another young Native American girl who is also topless is sitting at the base of the tree on-looking while the other girl is swinging. Having a relationship with the natural world is a big part of Native American culture and the girl in this painting is a great symbol to the viewer of their deep love of the world., mainly because of the face that nature provides them with everything they need, and a major goal is to become and feel one with the natural world. The girl, as the main subject of the painting embodies this symbol because of the mere fact that she is almost nude, and she is swinging in a happy manner. She is looking up at the branch she is swinging from and nothing else seems to matter to her. By this she is showing the viewer that she is fully concentrated on the tree. Because she is not fully clothed and she is swinging it gives the impression that she is happy and content with what she is doing; her actions makes her appear one with the natural world. The symbol of the girl makes the viewer believe she is a part of nature just as a much as the tree is because of her happy playful connectivity with it.

The subject of the painting embodies the desire of Native Americans to be one with nature by using the symbol of a young woman playing and utilizing the branch of the tree in an everyday, happy manner, making her seem one with nature.