Group Theory in Non-European/Subaltern Cultures?

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I'm doing undergraduate research on the history of Abstract Algebra (specifically permutation groups) and the notion of symmetric groups in indigenous artwork has come up several times. Is anyone aware of evidence of this 'intrinsic' human desire to construct groups I could point to? Or maybe some natural phenomena that conform to the definition of group? I'd like to have specific examples I can explain (and possibly map some ideas of formalized group theory onto). Thanks!

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You better consult The Genesis of the Abstract Group a Contribution to the History of Abstract Group Theory: Contribution to the History of the Origin of Abstract Group Theory by Hans Wussing, or Why Beauty is Truth: A History of Symmetry, by Ian Stewart. It turns out that only Galois, Abel, Cauchy, Lie and many others had the capability of turning symmetry (which is woven into our world) into abstract algebra/group theory.