Northern Arapaho Sovereign Nation becomes sister city with Longmont

For the first time in the 65-year history of the Sister Cities program of the United States, a sovereign nation entered into a sister-city relationship with a U.S. city. Steven Fast Horse, a representative of Business Council of the Northern Arapaho tribe of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley signed an agreement Saturday, Sept. 18, establishing the relationship after a 3-year effort that initially met with resistance from government officials who said it couldn't be done. But they persisted.

Niwot resident Janice Rebhan, president of the Longmont Sister Cities Association, and Bagley spoke eloquently of the relationship between Longmont and the Northern Arapaho, noting that the Longmont and Boulder area was the ancestral home of the Northern Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes before the Northern Arapaho were forcibly relocated to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. "We want to ensure that these injustices do not happen again," Bagley said. "We see this as a step towards healing."

Rebhan spoke of the relationships which began three years ago between the youth of the Longmont area and the youth of the Wind River Reservation, who accepted an invitation to travel to Colorado.

Lee Spoonhunter, co-chairman of the First Nations Business Council, responded saying, "To my fellow Arapaho, we are home." He then addressed the Longmont representatives, which included all of the members of the Longmont City Council, saying, "We see you as family."

Spoonhunter went on to describe conditions at the Wind River Reservation. "Unfortunately, racism is alive and well in America." He concluded saying, "We can combat that with love and respect." Seeing the Arapaho students and the Longmont students sitting together, Spoonhunter told them, "The sky is the limit. This time in America, we'll get it right."

One of the benefits of the sister city relationship is the opportunity for cultural exchanges and understanding, particularly among youth. Fast Horse noted that the Northern Arapaho had been forced upon the Wind River land in Wyoming, which was also the land of another tribe.

He lauded the recent effort to rename Settler's Park in Boulder, which was the winter camp of Chief Niwot, pronouncing Niwot (Ni-waa) in the Arapaho language. "We always look to the generations that will come after us." Describing the beauty of the Arapaho ancestral home, he said, "Our kids can come back to our homeland."

The ceremony opened with the presentation of the colors by veterans from the Longmont chapter of the American Legion, complete with a bugler whose horn evoked the call of the U.S. Cavalry over 150 years ago. Following the pledge of allegiance, the Northern Arapaho presented the American flag and the Northern Arapaho colors, with the Eagle Drum Society providing a Native drumbeat. A recitation of the pledge of allegiance in the Arapaho language by members of the tribe followed.

Carol Lopez of Sister Cities International in Washington, D.C., noted that Native Americans serve in the armed forces at a higher percentage of their population than any other group in the U.S. She spoke directly to the youth who attended the ceremony. "The United States has a troubled past," she said. "We need to find reconciliation. We must continue these dialogues."

Lopez told how President Eisenhauer, who had seen the ravages of war first hand, believed that there had to be a better way.

The sister cities program was established so that people of different countries and cultures could establish relationships and promote mutual respect and understanding, which would diminish the likelihood of war. She applauded the courage of Mayor Bagley and the Longmont City Council as well as the Northern Arapaho Nation in establishing the sister-city relationship.

The ceremony concluded with rousing performances by the Longmont High School Drumline, followed by Northern Arapaho dancers accompanied by the Eagle Drum Society with Harvey Spoonhunter narrating, and three beak-dancers from the Wind River Reservation.