 For both Catherine McLean and Erica Dick, that's the real point of the story. It's not just the history of one woman and how she suffered. It's about the unintended or unthinking exploitation of one culture by another. The hippies who made the trek to Maria Sabina's village didn't mean to do any damage. They just wanted a mind-blowing experience and were willing to ignore the socioeconomic inequities to get it.