The Booksmith is very excited to host Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson for the release of We Will Be Jaguars. They will be joined in conversation by the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food Anna Lappé. Please RSVP below and join us!

About the book

From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist comes an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures, and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest We Will Be Jaguars is an astonishing memoir by an equally astonishing woman. Nenquimo is a winner of TIME magazine’s Earth Award, and MS. magazine named this book among the Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024.

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. At age fourteen, 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. She listened.

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 a spear—honed by her experiences battling loggers, miners, oil companies and missionaries.

In We Will Be Jaguars, 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.

About the authors

Nemonte Nenquimo is a leader of the Waorani people, cofounder of the Ceibo Alliance, and an internationally acclaimed activist. Born in the Amazon region of Ecuador in 1985, she is a winner of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize and was named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 list (lauded by Leonardo DiCaprio). Mitch Anderson is the founder and executive director of Amazon Frontlines, which supports the struggles of Indigenous peoples to defend their rights to land, life, and cultural survival in the Amazon rainforest. A native of the Bay Area, he is Nemonte’s partner, and they have two young children.

Anna Lappé Anna Lappé is an internationally recognized expert on food systems and the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. An active board member of Rainforest Action Network, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to, or featured in, nineteen more. Named one of TIME’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations, including Real Food Media, a communications strategy non-profit, and the Small Planet Fund, which supports democratic social movements worldwide. Anna is based in the San Francisco Bay Area where she lives with her husband and daughters. 

About the bookstore

The Booksmith is an independent bookstore located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco since 1976.

Please note:

• Masks are not required, but can be provided upon request.
• Check-in begins at 6:45. Unclaimed seats are given up beginning at 7:10.
• There will be a 30 minute post-show signing as time allows. Books will be for sale on the night of the event, but you can also purchase additional copies straight from our website.
• Please be aware of the ticket tier you are selecting. The free general admission tier does not guarantee a seat and may be standing room if our seated tiers sell out first.
• Questions? Accessibility requests? Write to us at [email protected].