Chile officially recognizes ten indigenous peoples, and several of them keep their culture, language and identity alive across different regions of the country, well beyond what's shown in museums: they are active communities, not just historical heritage.
The peoples with the strongest tourism presence
- The Mapuche people, Chile's largest indigenous group, present mainly in Araucanía, where several communities offer rural and cultural tourism they manage themselves.
- The Aymara and Atacameño (Lickanantay) peoples, in the far north and around San Pedro de Atacama, whose adobe architecture and terraced farming traditions are still present in towns like Toconao or Socaire.
- The Rapa Nui people, on Easter Island, with their own language and identity recognized as intangible heritage.
How to experience it respectfully
The most direct way to approach these cultures without falling into shallow folklore is to prioritize experiences run by the communities themselves -guides, rural lodging or local craft fairs- over generic tours that only use indigenous aesthetics as decoration. In San Pedro de Atacama and in several Mapuche communities in Araucanía, this kind of community-run tourism is already fairly developed and easy to book directly.
