Habiendo vivido junto al dinamismo geológico de la cuenca del Salar de Atacama (Chile) por milenios, el pueblo Lickanantay ha acumulado abundantes datos observacionales y ceremoniales acerca de la naturaleza volcánica que les rodea y la participación de volcanes en procesos más amplios de formación cosmoecológica. Sin embargo, la vulcanológica formal no ha establecido un diálogo sustantivo con estos conocimientos. A través de una colaboración intercultural, este artículo expone lo que llamamos ‘vulcanología Lickanantay’ —o el sistema Lickanantay de conocimiento sobre volcanes, relaciones volcanes-humanos e interdependencia geocósmica— con el objetivo de hacerla disponible para la comunidad vulcanológica general. Primero, describimos las características básicas de la vulcanología Lickanantay. Luego nos enfocamos en el campo geotérmico de El Tatio para ofrecer una aproximación situada. Finalmente, delineamos algunos elementos para la gestión del riesgo volcánico desde una perspectiva Lickanantay. En nuestras conclusiones sugerimos que la vulcanología Lickanantay invita a pensar lo ‘indígena’ no como un conjunto finito de conocimientos y prácticas sino como una demanda por autonomía territorial y epistemológica, y que es sólo reconociendo esa demanda que la vulcanología podrá responder al llamado de la descolonización de la ciencia.

The need of establishing more substantive dialogs between the mainstream and Indigenous knowledge on volcanoes has been increasingly recognized. To contribute to this endeavor, in this article we present the basic volcanological understandings of the Lickanantay people in the Salar de Atacama Basin. The Salar de Atacama Basin is an active volcanic territory within the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes (CVZA). From the El Tatio geothermal field to Socompa volcano, more than 19 active volcanoes surround the territory that the Lickanantay (Atacameño) people have inhabited for more than 11,000 years. Living around and with the geological dynamism of the CVZA for millennia, the Lickanantay communities have accumulated rich observational and ceremonial data on volcanoes and volcanism. Paradoxically, however, while the Atacameño people have thoroughly characterized the CVZA, the volcanology community has not been properly introduced to the ancestral knowledge articulated in the territory. In order to make traditional Atacameño perspectives on volcanoes, volcanic risk, and geo-cosmic interdependence more amply available to the volcanology community, in this article, we present a basic description of what we call Atacameño volcanology. By Atacameño volcanology, we understand the ancestral principles by which volcanoes are known and understood as partaking in larger processes of a cosmo-ecological formation. Specifically, we describe the basic volcanological notions arising from the Lickanantay ancestral knowledge—volcanic formation, functions, and behavior. Second, we focus on the El Tatio geothermal field to offer a situated example. Finally, we delineate some relevant elements of human–volcano interactions and volcanic risk management from an Atacameño perspective. In our conclusions we suggest that volcanology, particularly in the context of the Andes, needs to engage more substantially with the Atacameño or other ancestral systems of knowledge production to expand volcanological insights and respond to the call for decolonizing science.