LONGMONT, Colo. – Since World War II, Sister Cities have brought cultures together worldwide. Now, one Front Range city is focused on repairing a relationship here at home.
In 2021, the city of Longmont officially became a sister city with the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming. By doing so, local leaders say it is the first sister city relationship between a sovereign tribal nation and a U.S. city.
“The word that I’ve always used for it, it’s been friendship. We started with friendship,” said Jenny Diaz-Leon. “If you’re friends with somebody, that means you have trust in them, and you believe in them, and you know they’re going to empower you.”
Diaz-Leon is a chaperone for the Longmont Sister Cities Association. As part of the relationship, students from Longmont made their way to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in the summer of 2021. Students from the reservation also made their way down to Colorado.
“I think this relationship really was an attempt to start trying to correct those mistakes that my people made,” said Ayden Wagner-Grull.
Wagner-Grull is a freshman at Erie High School. He was part of the first group of students to spend a week at the Wind River Reservation.
“Think about the reservation, what is the fist thing that comes to mind? Oh they’re probably not too technologically advanced,” said Wagner-Grull. “They’re just like us. There’s literally no difference between me and them.”
Marlie Ute is part of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming.
“It’s important because some people like me have never been around a different culture,” said Ute. “It’s important to not look at them differently and be open to learning about them.”
Ute said she most enjoyed spending time with kids her age.
“We kind of toured through the city of Denver. One of my favorite parts was looking at these buildings that had graffiti on them,” said Ute. “We just all walked through there and we’re all bonding really. We all made friends very easily.”
These two weeks of cultural immersion revealed lessons these students will remember for a lifetime.
“Even though we spent two weeks together, we made a family out of it,” said Wagner-Grull.
“It is part of our past that we kind of get stripped of all of our culture and language,” said Ute. “But as me now, I’m not wanting to take it out on everybody by just looking at their skin color.”
Longmont is also a sister city with Chino, Japan and Ciudad Guzman, Mexico.
The application for next summer’s student exchange is now closed, but the Longmont Sister Cities Association is always looking for donations and volunteers.
You can find out how to help here.