The aim of this work is to recover and narrate the historical processes regarding the Afro-descendent presence in Arica, a city of Northern Chilean territory. Beyond the intention to build a historical narrative that covers the whole phenomenon, the paper is oriented to highlight aspects of the Afro-Arican history that could help to understand the movements for ethnic recognition that these collectives are articulating nowadays. We start contextualizing the African slavetrade to Latin America, describing the general characteristics of this phenomenon in the region. Afterwards, we will contextualize the presence of black slaves in the Viceroyalty of Peru, to which Arica used to belong. Finally, we will conclude debating some aspects about the Afro-Descendent movements nowadays in the city, specifying their petition for the recognition of an Afro-Chilean ethnicity.