We Will Be Jaguars

by Nemonte Nenquimo, Neomnte Nenquimo & Mitch Anderson

We Will Be Jaguars is an impassioned memoir by Nemonte Nenquimo, a Waorani leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon, written with her husband Mitch Anderson. The book chronicles her singular upbringing, from learning traditional plant medicine and shamanism from her elders to her teenage experience with evangelical missionaries in the city. After being called back to her roots by her ancestors, Nenquimo became a prominent climate activist, spearheading an alliance of Indigenous nations and leading a landmark legal victory that protected over half a million acres of rainforest from oil exploitation. The memoir explores themes of cultural identity, the clash between Indigenous ways of life and modern encroachment, and the ongoing fight to preserve the Amazon.