ABSTRACT
Indigenous people inhabited Chile long before the Spanish invasion, led by conquistador Diego de Almagro, in 1536. Indigenous people of the region had their own customary laws, languages, religions and traditions. Self-determination in the case of indigenous peoples requires the recognition of collective rights, the existence of alternative legalities and a general political space in which to make decisions. Ancestral indigenous rights have some common characteristics in the recognition granted by international human rights law. With specific regard to water, the Andean region presents a distinctive irrigation system that brought together people and their attachment to the land and water resources in a decentralized institutional framework. The Water Code of 1981 aimed to record every 'transaction' carried out regarding rights over water, beginning, of course, with its constitution. The legal right of Andean communities to certain waters is configured, recognizing the ancestral use of water resources, the legal basis of which is indigenous customary law.
