Akwesasne, Franklin County
Beadworker & Traditional Regalia Maker
William Loran (Katsorptae) is a retired ironworker and member of the Mohawk Wolf Clan with 50 years of experience in bead, leather and feather work. He is best known for creating traditional Mohawk ceremonial dress, including headdresses (gustoweh), bead and quill decorated garments, and leather moccasins. As a teenager in the 1950s, he was a member of the Akwesasne Youth Councilors Organization under Ray Fadden, the great Mohawk teacher. William is a scholar of the Mohawk language, interested in the origins of words and how they came into common use. He now travels regularly to powwows across the Northeast and Canada to demonstrate his traditional crafts and lecture on Iroquois culture. His beadwork is often purchased and commissioned within Haudenosaunee communities for traditional use.