After seventeen years of debate, the Chilean Congress approved the ilo 169 Convention on indigenous rights that compels the State to consult indigenous communities on issues that directly affect them. As the political and economic conditions were unfavourable, this political outcome is surprising. Indeed, the legal status of the indigenous people in Chile is weaker than in the rest of Latin America. This article explains this outcome through a detailed description of institutional changes as well as social pressures from the indigenous movement. These factors made right-wing sectors to adapt their discourses in order to accept Chile as a multicultural society. Moreover, a relevant part of the story is related to territorial differences among legislators. Discourse adaptation toward a soft recognition of indigenous rights is a likely outcome in a very conservative environmental setting.