In 1992, Principal Ron Booth traveled to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in hopes of establishing a relationship with the tribe for which Arapahoe High School was named. Now, selected students and staff members ventured back to where Booth made history, to “Renew the relationship through teenagers,” as the slogan on the front of their t-shirts said.
At 4:45 a.m. on April 17, the travelers gathered in the cold outside of the school to embark on a journey. Seventeen years after his first trip, Booth led 10 staff members and 42 students to return to the Wind River Reservation as part of the senior class gift chosen by the senior class officers.
“We take the lead from our officers,” senior class sponsor Jacqueline Price said. “We follow their aspirations. They came to us. [Senior class sponsor Carrie] Levi and I went on this trip to support the officers and see it first-hand.”
The students and teachers packed into the charter bus to begin the eight hour drive to the reservation. While the students dozed the teachers chatted with each other in the early morning. After a quick McDonald’s break, just across the Wyoming border, the senior class secretary, Parker Calbert, broke the ice by sharing her most embarrassing moment with the bus. Over the next hour, everyone on the bus did the same.
“This year there was a bigger focus on getting to know everyone on the trip,” senior class publicity officer Jenny Smith said. “You had team unity and you were there for a common purpose.”
Eight hours later the group arrived at Wyoming Indian High School in Ethete, Wyoming, where they were met by the principal, Phil Garhart. For an hour, the teachers and students asked questions about life on a reservation and the Arapaho Tribe and then Garhart led them on a tour.
“I liked how powerful what they said was and how they shared information with us so openly,” Levi said. “This was a chance to build community by sharing your story and hearing someone else’s.”
That night, the school cafeteria made “Indian tacos” for the visitors. An Indian taco is a taco made with fry bread. Then the students learned how to dance Arapaho style; first in a couple’s dance, then in a group circle called a “friendship dance.” The students danced to traditional Native American singing and drums.
“It was that moment, holding hands, dancing in a circle to the beat of a drum, that not only did I feel like I was a part of something unique, but furthermore, it was then that our home and heritage, although greatly important, did not stand in the way of who we are: mankind,” freshman Kailyn Witonsky said. “It is this connection that is priceless to me.”
The next day the group returned to the high school to be paired with a student from Wyoming Indian High School. The students and teachers went to two of their classes and spoke with teens on the reservation.
“I got to see how they lived,” Dawes-Allen said. “The girl I shadowed was 14 and she had a baby. I also found out that the teacher didn’t have running water. I didn’t think that there were people in America without running water, let alone only eight hours away.”
They saw how small the class sizes were, averaging about ten students per class. The amount of students who attend the school is around 180. Smith talked to a girl who was struggling with her choices after graduation. She took care of her younger siblings like their mother. She signed up to join the Marines after she graduates and was struggling with her decision to leave the reservation.
“It’s a part of society you don’t see,” Smith said. “You learn outside of the suburban white bubble. I learned about a different culture and the difference between people here and there. They are quite different.”
Though there are many differences, the travellers also found many similarities.
“A girl gave me a copy of her essay and then she shared her future aspirations with me,” Price said. “Kids are kids. Talking to them about prom was like kids here talking about prom.”
Wyoming Indian High School’s prom was that weekend. All grade levels from their school are allowed to attend.
After the high school visit, the group made their final stop at Arapahoe Elementary School. In a classroom in the elementary school, Booth sat the AHS group down and said, “I haven’t been back to this room since that night.” Booth proceeded to tell the story of the night he began the relationship with the Arapaho tribe.
Back in 1992, Booth was at a local publisher picking up AHS athletic brochures when a man who worked there mentioned he was from the tribe Arapaho. Booth began to talk to him and found out that the school mascot and logo at that time wasn’t of an authentic Arapaho Indian. It actually depicted a Pawnee, a long-time enemy of the Arapaho. Because of this he made contact with Carolyn McLaughlin, an Arapaho Indian, and had meetings with her about what he wanted to do. This led him to take his trip to Wyoming to meet with tribal elders and leaders. Booth asked the Arapaho to endorse the Warrior name and to create a new school logo.
Booth said that he was asked many questions about why he hadn’t asked them when the school first started and why he was really there. They questioned him all night until early the next day. After many hours of conferencing, Booth asked them again if they would endorse the school logo, and they looked to a man in the corner who hadn’t said anything all night. He said, “Do what he requests. He is an honest man.” It was Anthony Sitting Eagle, a Medicine Man of the tribe Arapaho. Then he called upon a man named Wilbur Antelope and Sitting Eagle showed Booth some of his artwork. Antelope was the one who created the current Arapahoe High School mascot and logo. Since that night 17 years ago, Arapahoe High School has maintained its unique relationship with the Arapaho tribe.
“It’s a part of what makes AHS so special,” Smith said. “We care about places around us.”
With that endnote, the group boarded the bus for the eight hour ride home and said goodbye to the reservation.
“The zaniness on the bus was amazing,” Price said. “Students were braiding each other’s hair, doing homework and playing games. Kids who wouldn’t normally hang out together were becoming friends.”
That Monday the students and teachers who visited wore t-shirts of the Wyoming Indian High School mascot, the Chief, to school. They also shared their experiences on the reservation with their classmates and teachers.
“Arapahoe prides itself on this relationship and strives to continue it,” Levi said. “This gift will leave a legacy behind from the senior class. It was a gift to the whole school.”
“If ever there was a trip worth going on, this would be it,” junior Kyle Sutherland said. “I am thankful to all who came on this adventure and made it a worth-while experience. Most however, I am thankful to the Arapaho tribe. We make sure our relationship endures through the years. We are a tribe of teenagers.”