Saga Star Wars and the problem of native indigenous people

Naboo appears to currently be shared jointly by the Gungans and the humans known as the Naboo, although the Gungans were the original inhabitants, and the humans were colonists. Up until the events of Phantom Menace, there was an uneasy peace between the two races, possible mostly because the Gungans preferred the underwater and swamp areas of the planet, and humans preferred the higher ground. However, only humans had represented Naboo in the Republic's Senate (until AOTC); the Gungans had no say in choosing the representative. [Source: Wookieepedia entry on Naboo, and my memory of information from The Phantom Menace Visual Guide.]

 

Thanks. So was Jar Jar made the Governor of Naboo for his services to the Chancellor? I got the impression that the planet was shared also. Naboo seems to have a lot of aquatic life also from TPM. Gungans appear to live underwater in hidden cities, but they still tend to live in shield protected areas to be able to breathe I guess. Visually stunning to see that habitat. I guess TPM told us that by the movie's end there was peace between the two peoples.

 

Wasn't Padme from a mountain tribe?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I don't know about Governor of Naboo -- I've lost track of Jar Jar over the last few years, and am just starting a binge-watch of The Clone Wars series. I was under the impression that Captain Panaka ended up as the ruler of Naboo during the Rebellion, but that may have been converted to the Legends category of Star Wars. I'll have to go do some research....

The Gungans do live in shielded areas -- Otoh Gunga, which we saw in TPM, had a shield around it to project the population from the large aquatic fish/monsters in the Abyss. The planet's core is actually a honeycomb of water-filled tunnels, and we did see some of the creatures that lived down there. If I recall correctly, that's one of the reasons the Gungan Grand Army existed -- not as an invading force so much as a way to fight off any large monsters that happen to attack the cities. The GGA is more like the US Army Reserves, I guess.

The domes in which the Gungans live are filled with air, and would resemble both public and private places like homes, city centers, etc. that humans have. The Visual Encyclopedia (I think -- I did research on this stuff for a novel quite a while back, and can't remember exactly what info I got from which source) mentioned that adult Gungans can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes, which would allow them to swim the length of Otoh Gunga. (I suspect they could stop at any of the public domes to catch their breath if need be.)

I also loved the visuals of the Gungan city, but then I'm fascinated by the alien races in Star Wars.

 

It would have been most apt had Jar Jar been appointed Governor by Palpatine. Jobs for the boys I suppose. Jar Jar rendered a great service by convincing the Senate to bestow upon him emergency powers. I heard about Panaka too.

Yes the Gungans appear to live and breath on the surface as native - wasn't that their secret hiding place in TPM in the forest? Otoh Gunga was just a breathtaking scene to see that in the cinema. It appeared to be shielded to protect it from "the bigger fish" and to sustain an atmosphere. I wonder how it was powered?

Yes I am fascinated by alien races too. I would love to see the Twileks and others. Interestingly we also see Mon Calamari in TCW (of course not in the film) living in similar conditions to the Gungans, though apparently on a completely aquatic planet. Even the Kaminoans have an interesting existence on an apparently stormy planet. Natural habitat versus artificial biodomes.

 

It's pretty clear that the Republic or Star Wars societies in general don't have anything like a First Contact principle (e.g. in Star Trek). There seems to have been a long history of space faring species, especially humans, spreading throughout the galaxy colonizing already inhabitated planets.
Is there a comprehensive list of such colonized species and planets? Of the top of my head: Tuskens on Tatooine, Gungans on Naboo, the Talz, Wookiees on Kashyyyk, Ewoks on Endor, ...

 

Oh no, not again . Do you realize there is already a very long thread where exactly the same topic is being (or has been) discussed in detail? Check out "defending Anakin and the Tusken" in the PT section. You will find LOTS of arguments on both sides. I find opening a new thread with pretty much the same topic to be redundant. I realize you may have overlooked that thread, but if you are really interested in the topic I suggest you check it out and read at least some of the newer comments. You will find that the Tusken, including your theory, have already been addressed, pretty much every single aspect. If you argue that anything was "stolen" from the Tusken, it would be nice to have some facts to support that. Sorry, that old Western and the Vietnam war is simply not proof enough.

 

Esp since Padme had said that they were going to try to negotiate the release of Obi-Wan.
She planned to use her position as senator and find a diplomatic solution.
And she told Anakin that she did want to start a war here.
So him starting to kill the natives is not a good start to that.

And really Padme's plan, if you could call it that, makes no sense.
She lands somewhere on Geonosis and plans to just poke around until she finds the people in charge?
Hoping that they would never get spotted or that those leaders would not call for the guards when they see them?
If she planned to negotiate and use her position, it would make far better sense to land openly and ask for an audience with Dooku and take it from there.
But we had to have an action scene so reason is thrown out the window.

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface

 

It's already been noted in this thread that there are other indigenous peoples in the saga than just the Tuskens.

Secondly, people are interested in what they've seen and are going to interpret it and discuss it one way or another, regardless of whether or not there are any facts or proof to support their interpretations.

 

Drawing inferences from the depicted status quo and obvious cultural referents the Tusken Raiders are based on seems to me to be quite enough, actually.

What exactly do you think is going on on Tatooine? The Tusken Raiders are obviously native to the planet. The moisture farmers obviously came from offworld at some point, set up stakes in the desert which the Tusken Raiders previously roamed freely, and started sucking the moisture out of the air in quantities large enough to comfortably sustain multiple minor metropolises spread across the planet. I don't know where exactly the Tusken Raiders get their water, but the moisture farms are almost certainly causing those meager sources to deplete. Why else would the Tuskens be so antagonistic toward the settlers if not for a conflict over land and resources? Unless you subscribe to the frankly repugnant notion that this society of social, tool-using, language-capable humanoids really is nothing more than a herd of vicious, mindless animals.

 

As I wrote above, this topic has already been discussed to death in the other thread I mentioned. I have pretty much said all I have to say there, so there is absolutely no need to repeat all that all over again. Please feel free to read my arguments there and comment on them. Just this much here: when something is not directly said in SW canon it may be "obvious" to some (or "quite enough" to YOU) but pure speculation to others. This is clearly the case here. The Tusken situation is completely a matter of interpretation.
Maybe one day George Lucas himself joins this forum and clears things up, only then will we have a definite answer. Until then.... not much of a chance to convince me.