Mapping landscapes of movements: representing Indigenous space signification

Abstract

This article explores the conceptualisation of intangible heritage through the placement of traditional practices, by providing a method for cultural heritage inventories on Indigenous territories. Landscapes of movements is the theory that allows the analysis of Indigenous cultures and territories in terms of context, inhabitants, heritage, policies, traditions, symbolism, landmarks and roads. The case study is Caspana, a Likan Antai community in the north of Chile, incorporated in the Inca roads. Through interviews over a tenure map built in co-labour with the community in study, it was possible to articulate a space signification in relation to people’s movement as a “ritual territory” and an “ancient territory”, one for the present and for past movement, respectively. This tenure map method becomes a tool for the Indigenous communities, who can now use it as argument for claiming their rights over land.