This article discusses how the idea of territorial heritage has been used by the Comunidad Agrícola de Ascendencia Diaguita Los Huascoaltinos as a resistance strategy against two large mining projects. The progressive articulation of a heritage discourse aimed at valuing territory coincided with a process of re-ethnicization undertaken by local families around the Diaguita ethnonym 20 years ago. These two dynamics interacted and led to a revitalization of Diaguita institutions, helping the community to claim an increased control over their property and the right to choose its own path towards development.