Bajorans

First appeared:   Stardate 45076.3 / "Ensign Ro" [TNG] Type:   Humanoid

Bajoran written language

Major Kira Nerys

Judge Renora

Humanoid race, distinguished outwardly only by extra wrinkles at the bridge of the nose, have wandered the galaxy and settled on various worlds ever since their homeland was occupied by Cardassians 40 years previously (circa 2328).

By custom, their familial name is used before the individual name. The ancient Bajorans had a tremendously rich and developed civilization complete with architecture, art, philosophy and even some technology before human beings on Earth became bipedal. Many Bajorans have joined Starfleet despite their home planet of Bajor still being in recovery from the Cardassian occupation, while others prefer to work with the United Federation of Planets from within the Bajoran system. Among their complex death rituals, Bajorans hold that a deceased soul should make peace with its former life and bid goodbye to those left behind before proceeding on tothe afterlife. Their heart's internal arrangement is mirrored along a horizontal, not vertical axis; puncturing the lower ventricle of the heart brings immediate death, as discussed on stardate 46982.1.

Upon the departure of the Cardassian military and dictatorial forces, the Bajoran provisional government requested the assistance from the Federation to help them in operating the former Cardassian space station Terok Nor, now designated as Deep Space Nine. Since the discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole near the Bajoran homeworld on stardate 46379.1, the Bajorans have enjoyed an increase in political power in their sector, but only after decades of victimization during the Cardassian occupation of their planet. Some Bajorans have a unique and personal insignia designed for themselves. Major Kira Nerys knew the famed Linalis' on sight. School years are organized by age "levels," and perhaps even in the refugee camps they offered art to youngsters as young as age 4 — when Major Kira felt she was the worst fingerpainter. Bajor's tradition of art and architecture was strewn around countless planets before the occupation. Its science and space programs were back on track soon after the occupation: at least one probe was sent to scan planets and life signs in the Gamma Quadrant. Relations between Bajorans and their former oppressors can still be testy, as Professor Lang notes.

The depth and complexity of Bajoran spiritual beliefs has been at the core of their ability to survive 40 years of suffering at the hands of the Cardassians. To the Bajorans, the land and the people who live on it are one and the same. Bajorans are led by both a spiritual leader (Kai) and by a provisional government. Bajoran religion also believes that ships are safely guided through the Bajoran wormhole by the Prophets and that the Celestial Temple dwells within the passage.