We Will Be Jaguars

 We Will Be Jaguars: A memoir of my people. By Nemonte Nenquimo

Questions:

Here are six bookclub discussion questions 

1. Intersection of Gender and Environmental Resistance: What does the forest represent for the Waorani?  How does the framework of patriarchy result in drunken men signing away rights? Why does it mean that the UN has no role in the book? Why hasn't the Sierra Club or Rainforest Alliance taken up Nemonte Nenquimo’s cause? Is it related to leadership challenges to the Western, patriarchal models of environmental activism? In what ways does her identity as an Indigenous woman shape her approach to defending the Amazon, and how does the book highlight the gendered dimensions of both ecological destruction and resistance? How big is the problem that she has to solve?

2. Colonial Violence and Extractivism: The book details the invasion of oil companies and missionaries into Waorani territory.  How are the cars we drive in California connected to dispossession of Nenquimo and her people? What role do roads play in deforestation? What role to corporations play? What does consumption, in rifles, canoe motors and shoes mean for the indigenous way of life and their water source? How do these forces represent interconnected forms of colonial violence—economic, cultural, and spiritual? Why did the Taromenane longhouse have to be destroyed? Why is the hunter stuck with the girls? Is it coincidence that the footsteps of Alfredo represent religion raping and exploiting indigenous girls and women? In what ways does extractivism rely on the devaluation of both Indigenous women and the Earth as resources to be dominated? Are women a resource to be violently exploited?

3. Embodied Knowledge vs. Scientific Exploitation: Nenquimo describes deep ecological knowledge passed through generations via dreams, shamanism, and oral tradition. What role does pollution, contamination, and institutional capture play in how women can care for their universe? How does this embodied, feminine-identified wisdom contrast with the Western scientific and capitalist frameworks that seek to “know” and exploit the forest? What does this reveal about epistemic injustice in environmental discourse?

4. Spirituality as Resistance: The Waorani worldview sees humans as jaguars and the forest as alive and sentient. Why does she have to have to discover her agency through a vision? Is the oil company alive as a malevolent force in the life of the forest and it's residents? How does this spiritual cosmology serve as a form of anti-colonial resistance? In what ways does eco-spirituality, particularly as practiced by Indigenous women, challenge the mechanistic, extractive logic of colonial modernity? How does it help her move beyond her parents? 

5. Solidarity Beyond Borders: Nenquimo calls for global alliances in defense of the Earth. From an eco-feminist perspective, how can women across cultures build solidarity without replicating colonial power dynamics? What responsibilities do women in the Global North have in supporting Indigenous women’s leadership in ecological struggles? How does one struggle without the resources systemically utilized to exploit  and it's role in a healthy nurturing world?

6. Narrative Sovereignty and Voice: The memoir blends personal story, collective history, and political manifesto. How does Nenquimo’s act of telling her own story—centering Waorani epistemology and feminine authority—represent a decolonial practice? In what ways does reclaiming narrative control parallel the struggle to protect ancestral land?

Interviews

https://atmos.earth/art-and-culture/big-oil-wants-nemonte-nenquimos-ancestors-not-on-her-watch/

Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOsYbojIeRA

Consequences

https://youtu.be/85qaeGeb7N8?si=chOKCL7Lo7g4tpqP

Further reading

Oil extraction contributes significantly to deforestation by necessitating the construction of access roads, which open up previously remote and pristine rainforest areas to further human encroachment, including illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and land colonization These roads facilitate not only the initial development of oil sites but also lead to widespread, indirect deforestation as settlers exploit newly accessible forest resources

- Road construction for oil exploration and extraction fragments habitats and enables secondary deforestation by allowing settlers to move in and clear land for farming and timber

- Oil operations cause direct environmental damage through oil spills, leakage from pipelines, and the dumping of toxic drilling by-products into rivers and soil, degrading forest ecosystems

- In the Amazon, oil activities have led to the degradation of biodiverse regions, such as Ecuador’s Oriente and Yasuní National Park, where drilling has threatened Indigenous communities and unique wildlife

- Flaring of natural gas and the building of infrastructure like pipelines and processing facilities further contribute to habitat loss and pollution

- Despite generating significant revenue, oil extraction often results in minimal benefits for local populations while imposing severe social and environmental costs, including displacement and health risks

1. [PDF] Oil, Forests, and the Amazon: Assessing the Impacts of Oil Development in the Amazon Rainforest  

   This report details how oil exploration in the Amazon leads to deforestation through road construction, habitat fragmentation, oil spills, and social disruption. It highlights specific cases in Ecuador and the broader environmental and Indigenous impacts.  

   Source: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228356732_Oil_Forests_and_the_Amazon_Assessing_the_Impacts_of_Oil_Development_in_the_Amazon_Rainforest](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228356732_Oil_Forests_and_the_Amazon_Assessing_the_Impacts_of_Oil_Development_in_the_Amazon_Rainforest)

2. Oil and Gas Development | Amazon Conservation Association  

   This page explains how oil and gas activities in the Amazon contribute to deforestation and pollution, particularly through infrastructure development and impacts on Indigenous territories.  

   Source: [https://amazonecologist.org/threats/oil-and-gas-development](https://amazonecologist.org/threats/oil-and-gas-development)

3. Amazon Oil and Gas Projects Threaten Forest and Climate | Amazon Watch  

   Amazon Watch documents how oil and gas expansion in the Amazon drives deforestation, endangers Indigenous rights, and exacerbates climate change.  

   Source: [https://amazonwatch.org/news/2022/1012-amazon-oil-and-gas-projects-threaten-forest-and-climate](https://amazonwatch.org/news/2022/1012-amazon-oil-and-gas-projects-threaten-forest-and-climate)

4. Oil in the Rainforest - The Environmental Literacy Council  

   This resource outlines the environmental consequences of oil extraction in tropical rainforests, including deforestation, water contamination, and ecosystem degradation.  

   Source: [https://enviroliteracy.org/energy/oil-in-the-rainforest/](https://enviroliteracy.org/energy/oil-in-the-rainforest/)

5. [PDF] Oil, Gas, and Conflict in the Amazon Rainforest - Scholars at Harvard  

   This academic paper analyzes how oil development in the Amazon leads to deforestation and socio-environmental conflict, emphasizing the role of access roads in enabling further forest loss.  

   Source: [https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jpwells/files/oil_gas_and_conflict_in_the_amazon.pdf](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jpwells/files/oil_gas_and_conflict_in_the_amazon.pdf)

6. Oil and Deforestation in the Amazon - World Rainforest Movement  

   This article discusses the indirect deforestation caused by oil exploration, particularly through the creation of roads that open up forests to illegal logging and agricultural expansion.  

   Source: [https://wrm.org.uy/articles_from_the_bulletin_list/oil-and-deforestation-in-the-amazon/](https://wrm.org.uy/articles_from_the_bulletin_list/oil-and-deforestation-in-the-amazon/)

These sources collectively demonstrate that while deforestation can occur through agriculture, logging, and other drivers, oil extraction acts as a major catalyst—especially in remote rainforest regions—by enabling access and accelerating land-use change.