ETHNOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN COLLABORATION: THE PEOPLE OF SONCOR AND THE DRIVE TOWARDS FRAGMENTATION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES OF THE ATACAMA SALT FLATS (NORTHERN CHILE)

Ethnicity is a social construct constantly changing according to various interests within specific social, historical, and political contexts. It is intervened by multiple actors, such as Indigenous associations of lesser and greater hierarchy, the State (local, regional, and national), and other institutions, groups, and individuals. Processes of ethnic fragmentation are some of how this change is expressed, and they are characteristic of the Atacameño or Lickanantay people’s socio-political field. In these processes, the Atacameño or Lickanantay people generally appeal to a past that acts as a base of their current identity, thus exposing the contemporary problems from which they reconstruct their past. In this article, we deal with a case study of the linkages within an Indigenous community in which we participate by developing collaborative research initiatives. We will focus on relationships established between the agents who drive a specific fragmentation process and the local academic field. We will expose how historical anthropological knowledge is appropriated by certain individuals and groups according to specific objectives in contexts of ethnic fragmentation.