The
Diaguita, also called
Diaguita-Calchaquí, are a group of
South American indigenous peoples. The Diaguita culture developed between the
8th and
16th centuries in what are now the provinces of
Salta,
Catamarca,
La Rioja and
Tucumán in
northwestern Argentina, and in the
Atacama and
Coquimbo regions of northern
Chile.
Diaguita tribes were sometimes confederated, and sometimes at war against each other. When the Inca started extending their empire southwards during the 15th century, the Diaguita fiercely resisted the invasion.
They were unique at the time for their lack of a caste system, and lack of gold or other sumptuous goods. They tended to live in clans. For the most part the men were monogamous, with chiefs possibly practicing bigamy.
They later fell to the Incas, though the influence of the Incas was successfully stopped at the Córdoba mountains. Their surviving descendants contributed to organized resistance to the Spaniards.
