Longmont Sister Cities hosts first-ever
​Native American Sister City Exchange!  

Ambassadors pictured with members of Longmont City Council

Northern ​Arapaho students from the Wind River Reservation joined Longmont students for three days of a cultural exchange in June 2019. The students created art, studied storytelling, enjoyed meals together and made friends. 

The group visited the First Nations, Firehouse Art Center, the Longmont Recreation Center, The Longmont Library, Longmont Civic Center, The Longmont Youth Center as well as local parks.  This is the traditional homeland for the Northern Arapaho Nation. For the students from the Wind River, it was their first opportunity to see their traditional homeland. For the Arapaho elders, allowing their youth to expand their horizons is important. 

​The Arapaho youth taught the Longmont participants a traditional Round Dance at the close of the event at the Longmont Museum.

​In the future, a sweat lodge will be built on this site for Northern Arapaho use. We hope to continue to build lasting bonds between the two communities by creating more exchanges – not only for youth but other groups in the community.  Funding for this exchange was provided by The Longmont City Council and Philanthropiece.