Much work in political ecology that addresses indigenous people tends to accentuate the ways in which their communities unite around a shared rationality and/or politics when faced by ‘threatening’ outsiders. While providing insight on indigenous lives and struggles, this focus nonetheless tends to preclude a more nuanced appreciation of how indigenous communities may be internally differentiated, and with what effects. Differences may be linked to such things as gender, education, residency, income and age, and these differences may be reflected to a greater or lesser extent in how individuals or groups in a community articulate perspectives on diverse issues including local development and which external actors the community ought to work with. This thesis seeks to contribute to the development of a more nuanced view of indigenous communities and the differences that may characterise them. Drawing on a political ecology perspective, and based on ethnographic fieldwork, it explores perceptions of water use and conflict in the indigenous community of Chiu-Chiu in northern Chile. This community has been severely affected by the massive water demands of large-scale mining – such that traditional agriculture is in jeopardy. Yet how residents respond to this and other changes impacting the village is differentiated, with age-related differences often at the forefront. Indeed, as this thesis shows, intergenerational dynamics have influenced: how individuals view local development and its associated rationality; how community positions are articulated to outsiders, by whom, whether this results in schisms, as well as how far external actors capitalise on them; and how the perceived costs and benefits of local development may be unequally distributed, prompting resistance by some individuals and groups. The thesis concludes with suggestions on how a nuanced understanding of indigenous communities can be elaborated.