We Will Be Jaguars

A Memoir of My People

By: Mitch Anderson, Nemonte Nenquimo

Narrated by: Christine Ann-Roche

From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist, We Will Be Jaguars is an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures, and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest and protect her people.

Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest—one of the last to be contacted by missionaries in the 1950s—Nemonte Nenquimo had a singular upbringing. She was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling, and shamanism by her elders. She played barefoot in the forest and didn’t walk on pavement, or see a car, until she was a teenager and left to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city.

But after Nemonte’s ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture, she listened. Nemonte returned to the forest and traditional ways of life and became one of the most forceful voices in climate change activism. She spearheaded an 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.

We Will Be Jaguars is an astonishing memoir by an equally astonishing woman. Nemonte digs into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, and hacking away at racist notions of Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, she reveals a life story as rich, harsh, and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.

©2024 Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson (P)2024 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Exceptionally Powerful and Fascinating

I loved learning about a different culture from the perspective of someone who grew up in it. I also find it motivating to learn that the fight to save the Amazon isn’t hopeless. Some things I related to my experience visiting some villages in the Philippines where I saw kids pluck little fish out of the water and people could walk straight up steep terrain or across riverbeds without slipping and they used to hear God or spirits (not anymore in the places that accepted Christianity) and also somewhat similar stories they told about the American missionaries who lived there though I know that was completely different from the jungles of Ecuador. I used to believe the excuses Americas made for taking natural resources from other countries
(I grew being told those excuses were the truth) until I heard too many stories and got to the point where making those excuses didn’t make sense without using extreme cognitive dissonance. This book is powerful and makes me think even more than I did before. It also shows that indigenous people are making progress in saving their land and that there are people out there who respect other people’s cultures the way they are.

Amazing story!

Well written and very engaging throughout. Worth the listen you won’t regret it. More than expected.

A story that needed telling

When I started this book, I thought that I would listen to it quickly. I did start that way, then I had to slow down and savor it. I had to slow down to experience the heartbreaking times, as well as the good. I had to contemplate and experience the story.

This book has gotten under my skin. All the things I learned when I was 18 in my first linguistics and anthropology classes came flooding back. All that I've learned about colonialism, missionaries, capitalism, and corporate greed came together here.

The book is about the Indigenous Peoples of Ecaudor fighting to save their land, their stories, their culture, and way of life. I think everyone should read this. If you like audiobooks, then try listening. Savor it. Take it to heart. Learn from it. Celebrate it.

A must read!

Every consumer of industrial goods needs to read this book to understand the impact of consumerism on indigenous peoples and on the rainforests upon which our entire world depends. When we protect the rainforests and the indigenous people who live within them. We protect ourselves. Thank you Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson for writing this important book.

Beautifully painful

Great read! it opens your eyes to a whole new world which seems outta this one but we actually need to care about. Proud of Nemonte for telling her most deepest experiences. Arriba la gente indigena! Arriba la Amazonia!

Fascinating

I loved this book. Decades ago I had seen a movie and documentary about the missionaries who went to a “primitive” area and were speared to death. And later how the sister of one of them forgave the indigenous community who had killed her brother and had gone to live with them to share the love of God and help them. It was all from the white people’s perspective. So how amazing to hear the other side of the story by one of the indigenous people of that community. She went through some horrifying experiences all done in the name of the Christian religion. It was a great reminder of the bias of those who had made the documentaries years ago. And how abusive their “help” and “love” so often is. I am grateful for this book.

A must read

I wish everyone would read this book. It offers a profound look into the lungs of the Earth—the Amazon Rainforest—through the lens of its sacred biodiversity, the Indigenous communities who call it home, and the devastating impacts of outside forces, particularly oil companies like Shell, Texaco, and others. The story of the Waorani people is one of resilience and reverence, and it deserves our deepest attention.

We protect what we love and what we feel connected to. Nemonte Nenquimo protects her forest as fiercely as a jaguar protects its cubs. What struck me most is that this isn’t a story of the past—it’s the story of today, and a warning for the future if we fail to act. It’s a testament to the power of hope, resilience, and loving action to break through the most challenging circumstances, big money, and legal barriers.

As outsiders, we must offer tools, information, resources, and questions that empower—rather than impose solutions. Colonialism is not just a relic of history; it is a present reality in many parts of the world. We have an obligation not to repeat history.

Oil companies destroy lives for profit, and as consumerism grows, we need to ask: 💡 What alternatives can we create that don’t harm some for the benefit of others? What use is wealth on a broken planet? Every company today can ask themselves these questions.

Lives are sacred. Homes are sacred. Governments and corporations have no right to seize Indigenous lands. Women are sacred, too, and a force— our loving leadership has the power to move mountains. Nemonte Nenquimo is living proof.

Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson have beautifully written this book. I encourage you to read it to learn about the realities faced by those in the Amazon, how their struggles connect to your future, and the need for courageous leadership to foster change in the oil and gas industry. It’s also a reminder of the sacred wisdom we all lose when Indigenous lives are taken.

Amazing Story

The most beautiful and inspiring story I have read and it’s not fiction. What an amazing story of loss, courage and determination. I cried so many times while listening. I’ve already bought 2 copies as gifts.

I kept thinking about this book all the time.

Narration was perfect. The story was an eye opening experience that could be hard for some people to understand. This story seeped into my thoughts even when I wasn’t reading due to the impactful storytelling. I feel glad I stumbled on this book and forever changed.

Beautiful voice of the Waorani

In 2019, I had the good fortune to spend a week on the Cononaco with the Bameno Waorani and hear firsthand their fight to keep the oil companies and the Ecuadorian government from taking their lands and decimating their way of life. This book is beautifully written and took me back to the forest trails and the warm and wonderful experience of my short visit with rich descriptions of life in the forest. But the story goes much deeper and is joyful and heartbreaking. I loved it!