Rebel wants women to embrace inner “Wild Woman”
- Ntawnis Piapot | December 15, 2016
Any way you look at it - Geraldine Carriere is a rebel. Outspoken and fiery, she gets what she wants in life. She’s an activist, author, singer, and entrepreneur - but above all - she is a self-professed “Wild Woman.” So it comes to no surprise that this is the title of her first book.
“Master the Art of Being A Wild Woman” began after she was asked to write for “First Lady Nation” - a short story book by Aboriginal women. Carriere wrote the piece during a difficult time in her life. She had just lost her son due to pregnancy issues- but she still she carried on and in the end she was chosen to write the opening chapter of the book.
“It was just a very fragile time, I guess, in my life and the Creator spoke through me essentially. I look back at it and I’m like, ‘Did I write those words?”
Carriere says “Wild Woman” is a self-help book for women who find themselves living their lives outside societal norms. Carriere describes herself as non-conforming, outspoken, even masculine at times. She wants this book to reach women like herself in hopes they embrace their own inner “Wild Woman.”
“I was talking about my lineage and all the women who have come before me. Somehow how i feel all of these women had a very rebellious nature and they didn't really follow the societal norms of what women are to be...the very quiet, polite, humble roles that we are supposed to be.“
Carriere’s debut book is also one of self-discovery. She says her life thus far has been a journey to succeed in a colonial environment. She says it’s a journey that other Indigenous youth can relate to.
“Because I’m an Indigenous woman, I’m forced to live in a colonial world and strive in a colonial way and I didn’t really fit in. So I kind of had this war within me,” she told EagleFeather News.
“I feel like the whole topic of race is something that I’ve had to deal with my whole life. I grew up urban and I mean, you get those little looks and those little whispers, and so ultimately there was always an inferiority factor that I had.”
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She says at the age of 32 - she has finally come into her own and is proud to be Indigenous.
“It took me this long to feel OK with being an Aboriginal person. And I feel that other women, and our people and men - they need to feel that too.”
She says “Wild Woman” is a guide for women who are searching for self-advocacy and professional development but first and foremost: self-love.
“No one should ever have to feel that they're inferior or that they don't fit in or that there isn't a place for us to belong… I declare every time I meet people, because I'm traveling a lot, and I'm always saying: “I’m First Nations. I’m Indigenous.’” “Master the Art of Being A Wild Woman” will be released early 2017.
In the meantime you can follow Carriere on Twitter: @gercarriere and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVCarriere/