Eastern Shoshone tribe member Willie LeClair was a spiritual leader, teacher and, according to his friend, Gov. Mark Gordon, had a “wicked sense of humor.”
In his lifetime, LeClair held many jobs — ranch hand, construction worker, air traffic controller and worked with the highway department.
It wasn’t until he was in his later years that LeClair felt called to become a spiritual leader, storyteller and teacher, which he did up until the day of his death May 18, 2023. His loss is still keenly felt around the Cowboy State by those who knew him.
“I miss him and our conversations about rodeo, history and mental health, and I particularly miss his wit,” Gordon told Cowboy State Daily. “Wyoming was particularly blessed to have Willie."
Former Wyoming Humanities Director Shannon Smith agreed.
“Willie was the Forrest Gump of Wyoming,” Smith said. “I don't think there's anyone who didn't know the man in the state.”
During his later years, LeClair said he was devoted to promoting a better understanding of Native American traditions and historic lifestyle to those who wanted to learn.
He traveled Wyoming in regalia and would do talks on Native American art, culture and storytelling. He did performances for tourists, museums and at elementary schools.
Teacher
Through song, narration and dance, LeClair’s stated goal was to educate, giving people a greater insight into the Indigenous way of life, both in the past and in modern society.
He tried to encourage the next generation to be proud of their heritage and wanted to show that it’s possible to achieve one’s full potential without losing cultural identity.
“I've just never seen anyone like Willie be so comfortable with welcoming people to learn more about his culture,” Smith said. “He was friendly and jovial as an ambassador for the Shoshone people.”
Episcopal minister Warren Murphy considered LeClair his mentor and good friend. He especially appreciated LeClair’s humor.
“He would tell good jokes that put everybody at ease,” Murphy said. “I think that's what made him quite unique.”
Each year, LeClair would participate in the famed One Shot Antelope Hunt and give humorous names to the participants.
“Willie was the medicine man, and that’s how I met him,” longtime Wyoming journalist and Cowboy State Daily columnist Bill Sniffin said. “Willie had a hell of a sense of humor and so he was always really picking on the Wyoming governors.”
After his death, the One Shot Antelope Hunt committee dedicated a bust to commemorate LeClair at the One Shot Museum in Lander.
“They have busts of all the prominent people over the years that have been in the hunt,” Sniffin said. “Adding him to it was quite an honor to his memory.”
His Legacy Of Hand Talk
“I think it was amazing that he was one of the few people who really knew sign language,” Gordon said at the dedication of LeClair’s bust. “He spent a lot of time trying to teach that and make sure that others knew it as well.”
LeClair was passionate about not only preserving, but also teaching the sign language of the plains before it was forgotten.
He was once hired by Eastern Shoshone Scott Ratliff to teach hand talk at Central Wyoming College.
“He did just an outstanding job of not only teaching sign language, but teaching why words were said the way they were,” Ratliff said. “He understood sign language and he understood the meaning of the words. I have a lot of respect for his sign language ability.”
LeClair had been nominated to the Wyoming Humanity Board by his friend Murphy and used the opportunity to approach then-Director Smith. He told her that he knew how to do hand talk and wanted to share it with others.
In partnership with Wyoming PBS, his idea became a reality and filming began.
For four years, LeClair and Smith would travel around and LeClair would use hand talk to tell a story about the place. It soon became apparent that the 3-minute videos hosted on the Humanities website were not going to be enough.
LeClair and Smith started to expand the project with the intent of giving all the videos to the Library of Congress.
“This way, 100 years from now, somebody can go look at videos of a person who has actually used hand talk they learned as an Indian child on the reservation,” Smith said.
“He was really getting it started when he died,” added Murphy. “That was the sad part. He taught a few things that we all knew and could understand.”
LeClair’s ultimate goal was to get the hand talk back to the native people so they could be able to talk back and forth from tribe to tribe through sign language.
“He cared a lot about Plains Indian Sign Language,” Smith said. “But what he did at the prisons was nothing short of miraculous.”
Connie LeClair stands beside the bust of her husband, Willie LeClair, who was honored after his unfortunate passing by the One Shot Antelope hunt committee. (Courtesy Bill Sniffin) 
Shannon Smith, from left, Willie LeClair and Matt Wright, videographer from Wyoming PBS, joking around between shooting of the sign language videos. (Courtesy Shannon Smith)) 
Willie LeClair, far left, served for many years as the medicine man for the One Shot Antelope Hunt. He's pictured here with former Gov. Matt Mead, right. (Courtesy One Shot Antelope Hunt) 
In a series of videos, Willie LeClair told Shoshone stories using hand talk. (Wyoming PBS)
Prison outreach
To those who knew LeClair, they say his greatest quality was as a spiritual leader who was kind and understanding.
At age 82, LeClair was visiting five prisons a month throughout Wyoming offering prayer and sweats to inmates.
“I think Willie did a lot of really positive things,” Ratliff said. “The thing that will always stand out in my mind was his commitment to providing spiritual help to the people at the prisons. He dedicated literally hundreds of hours and energy to seeing that the inmates were given a chance to practice prayer.”
LeClair was seen as a firm but caring grandpa who told the men he visited that they needed to get their act together. As a prison chaplain, he would sweat and pray with Indian and non-Indian alike.
“He had an immense wealth of spirit which he wanted to share,” Gordon said. “He had a soul that isn't ever going to slow down, but I had no idea that, in a sweat, he would pass away.”
LeClair died in the midst of his ministry, serving those who needed his prayers and spiritual guidance.
“He finished the sweat,” Murphy said. “And then he went back into the sweat lodge after it was over and never came out. It was a pretty tough thing to have to deal with.”
“It just really shows that, until the day he died, that man had more energy than anyone I know,” Smith added. “If he hadn't passed on, he'd do it until he was in his hundreds.”
LeClair’s legacy continues on in the memories of those who called him friend and in the videos he recorded to preserve the art of hand talking.
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
