Nemonte Nenquimo is a powerful contemporary “voice of challenge” whose work directly confronts the industrial world’s relationship with the environment. 

Nemonte Nenquimo (born 1985) is an Indigenous leader of the Waorani Nation from the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is the first female president of the Waorani of Pastaza and a co-founder of the Ceibo Alliance, an Indigenous-led nonprofit.

She gained international recognition in 2019 when she led a landmark legal battle against the Ecuadorian government. The lawsuit successfully blocked the planned auctioning of 500,000 acres of ancestral Waorani territory to oil companies. This victory set a major legal precedent for Indigenous rights, mandating that the government must obtain “free, prior, and informed consent” before exploiting Indigenous lands.

In 2020, she was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize (often called the “Green Nobel”). Her 2024 memoir, We Will Be Jaguars (published as We Will Not Be Saved in some regions), continues her challenge to Western perspectives on “saving” the rainforest.

Why she is a “Voice of Challenge:

Challenging the “Savior” Narrative: She explicitly rejects the idea that Indigenous people need “saving” by Westerners, arguing instead for respect and sovereignty.

Challenging Economic Logic: She refutes the idea that the Amazon is “empty land” or a “resource” to be auctioned, describing it instead as a “living pharmacy, temple, and history.”

Challenging Ignorance: She often states that the Western world’s ability to destroy the Earth comes from a lack of curiosity and a refusal to truly “know” the land.