This article analyzes the relationship between the limited existence of indigenous communities recognized by the state in the province of La Rioja and the absence of colonial history records in local archives. The contexts that explain the destruction, dispersion and appropriation of sources are reconstructed, while in the present references to “the indigenous” continue to be associated with timelessness representations. The fieldwork with leaders from the community of Guandacol and Los Chumbichas shows different ways of activating ethnic identities, offering alternatives memories and past reconstructions in the present times.