Lawrence Martin (musician) facts for kids
Lawrence Martin was born in January 1956 in Moose Factory, Ontario. He is a Canadian musician and a politician. In his music, he is known by the name Wapistan. This name comes from the Cree language word for a small animal called a marten.
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Lawrence Martin's Early Life and Music
Lawrence Martin is a member of the Moose Cree First Nation. He grew up in a small community called Moose River Crossing. In traditional Cree communities, everyone in the village is like family. One of his aunts, Abba, noticed he had a special talent for music when he was very young.
She bought him an acoustic guitar and taught him how to play. Once he learned just three basic chords, he started writing his own songs. He was about twelve years old at that time. When he was fourteen, he went to high school in North Bay, Ontario.
In the 1980s, Mr. Martin was in charge of the Wawatay Native Communications Society. This group is a First Nations broadcaster in Northern Ontario. In 1989, he helped create the first-ever television broadcast of a First Nations pow-wow. A pow-wow is a special gathering for Indigenous people to celebrate their culture.
Lawrence Martin's Political Journey
In 1991, Lawrence Martin became the mayor of Sioux Lookout, Ontario. This was a very important moment. He was the first Indigenous person in Ontario to be elected mayor of a town that was not a First Nations reserve. He served as mayor until 1994. After that, he worked for the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service.
In 1998, he was elected as the grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council. He held this position until 2001. During this time, he also tried to become the leader of the Assembly of First Nations. This is a big group that represents First Nations people across Canada. However, he was not elected to that role.
Later, he moved to Cochrane, Ontario. There, he became the executive director of the local Native Friendship Centre. In 2003, he was elected mayor of Cochrane. This made him one of the few Canadian politicians to have been mayor of two different towns! He was the mayor of Cochrane until 2010.
In 2014, he was elected grand chief of the Mushkegowuk Council for a second time. This happened in a special election after the previous chief, Stan Louttit, passed away.
Lawrence Martin's Musical Career Highlights
Lawrence Martin has also had a very successful music career. At the Juno Awards of 1994, he made history. He won the first-ever Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year. He won for his album called Wapistan Is Lawrence Martin.
He was nominated for the same award two more times. In 1996, he was nominated for his album Message. In 2003, he was nominated for The Right Combination. This album was a duet with another musician, Vern Cheechoo.
In 2006, Lawrence Martin and Andrea Menard were the hosts of the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. His song "I Got My Music" is also featured on a music collection from 2014 called Native North America, Vol. 1.
Discography
- Wapistan Is Lawrence Martin (1993)
- Message (1995)
- The Right Combination (2002)
- Dancing for Life (2009)
- Train of Life (2014)
