Rigoberta Menchú, a Maya woman from Guatemala, tells the story of her life to an anthropologist. She begins with her childhood, spent in a poor peasant community in the highlands of Guatemala. Her family was very poor, and she had to work in the fields from a young age. She also describes the discrimination that the Maya people face from the government and from wealthier people in Guatemalan society.
When she was a teenager, her brother was killed by the military during the Guatemalan civil war. This event radicalized her, and she became involved in the guerrilla movement fighting against the government. She was eventually forced to flee Guatemala and seek asylum in Mexico.
She continued her activism from exile, working to raise awareness of the situation in Guatemala and advocating for the rights of the Maya people. In 1992, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.