Locked up for being Tarahumara

Mexican play exposes ethnocentric injustice

The Woman Who Fell From the Sky portrays true story of misdiagnosis

By Adrian ChamberlainWhen Rita Quintero was discovered eating from garbage cans and speaking incoherently, she was diagnosed as schizophrenic and packed off to a Kansas mental asylum.

That was 26 years ago. She spent 12 years in the asylum before being vindicated and freed.

In fact, Quintero was not suffering from a mental illness. She came from a northern Mexican tribe, the Tarahumara, that speaks a little-known ancient language. Because her speech was incomprehensible to Americans and her behaviour deemed odd, she was institutionalized--a classic case of ethnocentric injustice.

This real-life story is recounted in The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, a one-act drama by Mexican playwright Hugo Rascon Banda. The play is being staged by Victoria's Puente Theatre, a troupe that routinely explores immigrant issues.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Plays and Other Stage Shows.

Below:  "Puente Theatre's production of The Woman Who Fell From the Sky. From right: Rosa Alvarado Stewart, Cam Culham and Gina McIntosh."