A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Diaguita identifies living communities in Chile and Argentina, not only an archaeological classification. The Chilean museum overview locates communities in the Huasco and Choapa valleys, including Huasco Alto, Vallenar, Freirina and Chalinga. This is a regional account, not a complete census. Across the border, the Unión de los Pueblos de la Nación Diaguita’s own published list includes communities such as Amaicha del Valle, Quilmes and Anfama. The undated list establishes how that organization presents its constituent communities; it is not used here to identify current officeholders or imply one government covering all Diaguita people.

One local project presents mining heritage from community perspectives. The Ruta Minera Ancestral Diaguita website, identifying Elena Varela as project lead, describes research in Huasco Alto that combines interviews with community members and authorities, historical documentation and recognition of mining remains. Its reported outputs include interpretive signs, a website and a video. The project connects small-scale mining history with local museums, pastoral movement and community celebrations. Those relationships show a particular regional history rather than a timeless occupation shared by every Diaguita. The written project account was read, but no site visit or viewing of its video is claimed.

Contemporary literature has similarly specific authors. The heritage-service catalogue identifies María Ester Campillay Gomolán of Valparaíso’s Campillay-Guacalagasta community as author of Cuentos de un origen, published in Spanish in 2021. Its description explains that childhood experiences with her father and mentor Ernesto Campillay Rojas are reworked into stories about an ancestral village, with fantasy elements. The book is therefore recorded as an authored literary treatment of memory, not a transparent transcript of ancient events. Only its complete catalogue notice was inspected.

A January 2023 Coquimbo health-service report documents another collaborative publication, Saberes Ancestrales: una contribución a la alimentación saludable. It brings together contributions from several distinct Indigenous peoples. The account names Diaguita participant Ema Pereira’s family preparation using arvejón flour, charqui and potatoes, and attributes an Andacollo preparation to knowledge shared by Alba Berríos with Carolina Herrera. These attributions preserve individual and local memory within a joint project. The report records a launch and the handing over of some copies; the full recipe collection was not read. Neither a shared publication nor similar foods makes its participating peoples interchangeable.

01

History & identity

Selected living-community and institutional witnesses, with Chilean regional projects and an Argentine organization’s own community list. No direct equation between archaeological categories and all present identities.

02

Sources & representation

Complete museum geography section, community-route project body, book catalogue, 2023 launch report and bounded UPND community list read. No linked videos, full books or legal membership rules inspected.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Cuentos de un origen

    María Ester Campillay Gomolán · 2021

    Complete public catalogue notice only; authored memory and fantasy are distinguished.

  2. 02

    Saberes Ancestrales: una contribución a la alimentación saludable

    Participating Indigenous health tables and Coquimbo health institutions

    January 2023 launch documented; exact publication edition not inspected.

Language & cultural connections

Source-supported language and cultural connections have not yet been compiled for this profile.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Community, museum or public institutionDiaguita — Ambiente y LocalizaciónResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Community, museum or public institutionRuta Minera Ancestral DiaguitaResearch access: 2026-10-05
  3. Community, museum or public institutionCuentos de un origenResearch access: 2026-10-05
  4. Community, museum or public institutionSaberes Ancestrales — Coquimbo launch reportResearch access: 2026-10-05
  5. Community, museum or public institutionUnión de los Pueblos de la Nación Diaguita — community listResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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