The Shoka

[Mike]

OFFICES OF THE GALACTIC ANTHROPOLOGY COMMISSION
Species Format Submission Form 35489.2321A

CULTURAL DESIGNATION: Shoka

HOME SYSTEM: Shokaal
PLANETARY INFORMATION: Hemisphered world where the Northern half is lush and green whereas the Southern half is barren and covered in desert. It is of great interest to Federation scientists.
APPEARANCE: Humanoid with ridges above the eyebrow area in place of eyebrows.

LANGUAGE: Simple for translators to understand except religious texts which the Universal Translator has difficulty with.

AFFILIATION: Friendly.

LOCATION: East of Starbase 332

HISTORY: The Shoka are a deeply spiritual people who are unsure of outside interference by the Federation. They happily accepted becoming part of the UFP given their proximity to the Gorn Hegemony who made several attempts to annex the Shokaal system during the late 2200s and early 2300s.

TECHNOLOGY: The Shoka claim to have little need of technology but are surprisingly advanced.

RELIGION: According to a survey conducted by Starfleet Science Anthropology teams in 2382, almost 70% of the population live in monasteries as Faith Keepers while a quite unprecedented 99% of the population keep to the doctrines of the faith.

The Anthropology teams raised a number of concerns regarding the welfare of the 1% who do not follow the doctrine but no proof has ever been brought forward that they are mistreated by the leaders of the world despite a number of penal colonies detected on outlying moons. The government has always maintained that these are for the correction of criminals.

CONTACT: The Shoka were first contacted in 2289 by the USS Greene after warp flight was detected in the system. They were made part of the United Federation of Planets in 2326

GOVERNMENT: The Shoka are ruled by the ‘Honoured Callar’ who is the figurehead of both the church and state. Underneath him (it is always a man) comes the High Council who are a group of five (again male) who advise the Honoured Callar directly. Below them is a Lower Council made up of women who in turn advise the high council. Interviews carried out by the Anthropology team suggest that there is no ill-feeling towards women but this practice is kept up out of a staunch observation of tradition.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION: Many in the UFP are suspicious of the Shoka’s ‘human’ rights record and countless articles and films have come out based on the topic.