Bright Tree Village

A village in the treetops! Isn't this splendid? Wooden bridges in the air and homes carved from tree trunks. Oh, how quaint, that Ewok's traveling on a swinging vine.C-3PO

Bright Tree Village was an Ewok tree village on the Forest Moon of Endor. It was home to the Ewok tribe that helped the Alliance to Restore the Republic defeat the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor.

Characteristics

Ewok Village plan — Bright Tree Village main level

Bright Tree Village was located fifty meters above the ground, in the canopy of a forest known as the Happy Grove.^[1] Not all the huts sat in the treetops, however. Some of the houses, including the residence of the Warrick family, were built at ground level.^[5]^[6]

The village was home to about 200 Ewoks and was structured so that the chief's and other elders' huts formed the center of the village, along with the Place of Sickness and an open platform for public gatherings. Families and unmarried females lived in clustered huts outside this area, and unmarried males and sentries lived even further away, below the main village. Higher up in the canopy were the lookout huts, where Ewoks could sight roving Goraxes, and further up, the launching sites of Ewok hang gliders.^[7]

Most of the huts clung to the sides of individual trees, while huts used by village elders like Chief Chirpa were hollowed out in the tree trunks themselves. Lighting the interior of each hut was not a problem, as the ancient conifers were tolerant of the heat generated by the fireplaces.^[7]

History

For years, the village was ruled by the wise Chief Chirpa. Together with the medicine man Logray and younger Ewok warriors, Chirpa defended the village from such threats as Duloks and Morag the Tulgah witch.^[8] Chirpa's tribe did not always live in the treetops—while Cindel Towani and her family lived with the Ewoks, they lived in huts on the ground.^[5]

Bright Tree Village NA — The village at night

The Ewok tribe that lived in Bright Tree Village was hostile to the Empire after they established their base on Endor. After a group of Ewoks caught a new group of outsiders in their trap, Logray led the tribe in an attempt to sacrifice Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 to the "Golden One" (actually the protocol droid C-3PO). The sacrifice was averted after pleading from Leia Organa (who had befriended the young Ewok warrior Wicket Wystri Warrick) and threats of the Golden One's "powerful magic" (really Luke Skywalker's use of the Force). Later that night, C-3PO about the Rebel struggle against the Empire up to that point. This convinced the Ewoks to adopt the Rebels as part of their tribe, and join the ensuing battle. After playing a pivotal role in the Rebel victory, the Ewoks of Bright Tree Village hosted a joint celebration of the fall of the Galactic Empire the following night.^[9]

Ewok village — Bright Tree Village on the night after the Battle of Endor

After the Battle of Endor, while the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the Alliance of Free Planets, Bright Tree Village was the temporary headquarters and barracks for Alliance personnel. Nearby, the Alliance built Endor Station, a modular facility Alliance personnel nicknamed "Bright Tree Base." Many diplomats from a variety of alien cultures, including Zeltrons, Lahsbees, and representatives from numerous Human worlds, visited the Ewok village. The First Conference of Free Peoples was held in Bright Tree Village.^[10] The village was used as the Alliance capital until the Second Battle of Endor, when the Alliance forces left the system to pursue their war against the Nagai.^[11]

In 6.5 ABY, when the New Republic had relocated to Coruscant, they set up some trading posts and landing pads on the forest moon, including Salfur's Trading Post in a clearing near Bright Tree Village.^[12]

Sometime after the Battle of Endor, Logray was exiled by Chief Chirpa, with Paploo becoming the new medicine man.^[13] In time, Chirpa died, and the village was ruled by Wicket W. Warrick and his wife Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka (Chirpa's daughter).^[1]