Abstract

This article draws on the diachronic historical context in the high Andean region of Tarapaca to analyze demarcation and property line practices in early property registrations in Cariquima indigenous communities. The process took place in the early 20th century. It culminated in the fragmentation of great historical colonial communities, which forced the local indigenous population to redefine customary practices in a new context of land tenure. Defining property and establishing property lines permanently altered social peace and created conflict from tensions surrounding the new legal structure. In this context, the article proposes the overall continuity of the pre-Hispanic sanctity passed down through ancestry and identifies a cosmopraxis that, translated as Aymara law, serves as a guide for resolving ownership conflicts related to indigenous property.