Lawrence Martin (musician)

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Lawrence Martin (born in Moose Factory, Ontario) is a Canadian musician and the current mayor of Cochrane, Ontario. He has used the name Wapistan in his musical work.

During his youth, he lived in the Moose Factory region and attended secondary school in North Bay. After various jobs, he became mayor of Sioux Lookout in 1994, becoming the first aboriginal person in the province ever elected to the mayoralty of a municipality that was not a First Nations reserve. He later moved to Cochrane, and was elected mayor of that town in 2003, similarly becoming one of the only Canadian politicians ever to have held the mayoralty of two different municipalities.

Also in 1994 he became the first winner of the Juno Award for Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording. Martin was nominated with fellow musician Vern Cheechoo for a 2003 Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year.