Synopsis:

Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, Nemonte Nenquimo was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling, and shamanism by her elders. Age 14, she left the forest for the first time to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city. Eventually, her ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture.

Two decades later, Nemonte has emerged as one of the most forceful voices in climate-change activism. She has spearheaded the alliance of indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon and led her people to a landmark victory against Big Oil, protecting over a half million acres of primary rainforest. Her message is as sharp as the spears that her ancestors wielded – honed by her experiences battling loggers, miners, oil companies and missionaries.

In this astonishing memoir, she partners with her husband Mitch Anderson, founder of Amazon Frontlines, digging into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, hacking away at racist notions of Indigenous peoples, and ultimately revealing a life story as rich, harsh and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Headline
Pub Date: 01 January 2025

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Note: Published in the US as, ‘We Will Be Jaguars’

Review:

This powerful memoir follows Nemonte from her time as a young girl growing up among the Waorani tribe in the Ecuadorian rainforest, through to the present day. It is told in two parts: her childhood spent with her tribe before she became dazzled by the missionaries and went to live with them, and her adulthood, where she became disillusioned with her new faith and returned to her tribe to fight to save their ancestral lands from the oil companies.

This book was not an easy read at times. I knew that missionaries travelled to remote tribes in order to preach, and I also knew that a lot of the time this was linked with the taking of such tribal lands for profit. What I didn’t know about was the extent of the inhuman treatment of the tribal peoples. Reading this book made my heart hurt, and made me angry at us (white people) for what we have done to the world, what we have done to the forests and the peoples that live in them.

I found it interesting to read Nemonte’s struggle and understanding in threading together the traditional and the modern. Her lands are steeped in culture and a traditional way of life, yet to save it, they need technology, lawyers, and to go to the city to make their voices heard.

Nemonte is incredibly wise, and the way she talked about her culture was wonderful. It is a culture rich in storytelling; everything has importance. I saved several quotes, but this one is my favourite:

“Dad said that the forest had penetrated Victor’s soul. The word he used was ‘omere’, which means ‘everything’. The whole of our world. Because the forest was our everything.”

Nemonte is an inspiring person, and more people need to hear her message. As part of the wider world, I feel complicit in some way, and I feel like the least we can do is listen. So I urge you: please read this book.