Preservers

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You may also be looking for information on the ancient humanoids, a species from whom most humanoid life in the galaxy may be descended.

The Preservers were a race known for transplanting civilizations in danger of extinction. This included several Native American tribes.

In 2268, the USS Enterprise visited the planet Amerind and discovered a civilization of American Indians living there. The Preservers had evidently transplanted a nearly extinct group of these Indians to Amerind. They may have transplanted various flora and fauna as well, for Amerind was richly populated by Earth-native forms. The inhabitants referred to the Preservers as the "Wise Ones." Because asteroid impacts threatened Amerind on a semi-regular basis, the Preservers constructed a deflector in the form of an obelisk and left instructions with the tribal medicine man.

Glyphs incised into the obelisk represented tones in a musical language. Among other things, they explained how to open the device. Once inside, a memory beam instructed visitors on the finer points of operating the deflector.

Leonard McCoy and Spock theorized that the Preservers were responsible for the spread of the many humanoids that populate the galaxy (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome"). But about a century later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and archaeologist Richard Galen learned that the Preservers were only part of the reason. (TNG: "The Chase")

Ronald D. Moore has stated that he'd considered, but intentionally did not specify, that the ancient humanoids seen in TNG: "The Chase" were in fact the Preservers. He noted, "but this could be them and be internally consistent." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)

[edit] External link

• Preservers at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works