Nemonte Nenquimo Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Nemonte Nenquimo

Nemonte Nenquimo is an author and Indigenous activist who belongs to the Waorani Nation, and she lives in the Amazon region of Ecuador. She holds the position of the first female president for an organization called the Waorani of Pastaza, which goes by the shorter name CONCONAWEP. Alongside others, she helped create two nonprofit groups that are led by Indigenous people, the Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, which focus on guarding the rainforest and its many forms of life. Her work also involves helping Indigenous communities keep their role as protectors of the Amazon, a job they have held for a very long time.

Back in 2020, Time magazine included her in their Time 100 list, a yearly collection of the most influential people from around the globe, and she was the only Indigenous woman on that list. She was also just the second person from Ecuador to ever receive that honor, which shows how rare and meaningful the recognition is. In that same year, the United Nations Environment Programme handed her a Champions of the Earth award in a category called Inspiration and Action, a prize given to people who make a real difference. These honors point to her ability to speak and write in ways that get people to pay attention without needing loud or fancy language.

Nenquimo does not shout her ideas from a distance. She sits with them. She builds them like a house frame by frame, using wood from her own forest and language from her own mouth. When she writes or speaks, she does not copy a speech from someone else. She pulls from what she has lived. That living includes oil spills, stolen land, and the slow quiet work of keeping a nation alive. She then hands those pieces to readers anywhere from New York to Nairobi.

Nemonte Nenquimo shows no sign of slowing down. She continues to write, speak, and organize with the same steady energy that earned her global notice a few years ago. New stories, new campaigns, and new ways to defend the Amazon are likely on the way from her and the groups she helped build. The future holds more of her clear voiced work, and readers around the world would be smart to keep an eye out.

Early and Personal Life

Growing up in the community of Nemompare in 1985, Nemonte Nenquimo spent her early years in the Pastaza region of the Ecuadorian Amazon as part of the Waorani Nation, a group of hunter harvesters. Her grandfather Piyemo, a well known Waorani warrior who once lived and hunted in the land now called Yasuni National Park, gave her the name Nemonte Ayebe. In the Wao language, that name carries three meanings: constellation of stars, long fish of the broken river, and singing bird.

As a child and young adult, Nenquimo did not grow up with a formal writing desk or a library nearby, but she grew up paying close attention to the world around her. Like many popular writers, she found her early inspiration not in books but in the stories and knowledge passed down by older people in her community. She has stated that the abuelas, the elderly Waorani women, gave her both the knowledge and the passion to push for change, which later became a foundation for her writing.

Over time, that passion turned into a clear voice on paper, helping her grow as an author who speaks for her people and her land. Her path shows a common thread found among many writers: inspiration often comes from those who came before and from paying attention to problems long before they become headlines. Nenquimo has noted that her people felt the effects of climate change well before the rest of the world began talking about it, and that early awareness helped shape her into the thoughtful author and activist she is today.

Writing Career

Nemonte Nenquimo began her writing career in a notable way by co authoring a book with her husband Mitch Anderson. The book came out in June 2024 under two different titles, We Will Not Be Saved in some places and We Will Be Jaguars in the United States. Through this work she aimed to teach readers about the Waorani tribe’s history, the long stretch of colonization, and the unfair views that the Western world has often held.

The book also shares a deeper point about the climate crisis, moving past the usual talk of saving nature. Nenquimo writes that mother nature does not necessarily want to be saved, but rather she wants to be respected. As a writer she is still active and has more work ahead, with her writing career continuing to grow.

We Will Be Jaguars

The memoir “We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People” was authored by Nemonte Nenquimo together with Mitch Anderson. Harry N. Abrams served as the publisher for this work. The book’s release date fell on September 17, 2024.

Here Nenquimo, a determined activist, writes about her Indigenous upbringing, the clash between cultures, and the mission to guard the Amazon. Raised in Ecuador’s Waorani tribe, one of the last peoples contacted by outsiders in the 1950s, she gained knowledge from her elders on healing plants, hunting for food, spoken stories, and rituals of the spirit world. She walked without shoes through the jungle and never encountered a car or a hard road until she moved as a teenager to study with a church group in town. After her ancestors spoke to her in sleep and begged her to come back, she returned to her roots, brought together Indigenous nations across the upper Amazon, and won a battle against large oil companies, saving over five hundred thousand acres of untouched forest.

Readers will find this memoir both eye opening and steady in its storytelling. The book offers a clear look at one person’s path without ever feeling heavy or sad. Anyone who has not picked it up yet can expect honest writing and a strong voice throughout. It is a good choice for those wanting to learn more about Indigenous life and the Amazon.