Dorvan V The planet Dorvan V was host to a Federation colony hosting a distinct Human culture during the mid - to late 24th century . It contained at least one continent , as well as mountain s and river s . Facilities included a Habak . Around 2350 , a group of North American Indian s settled the planet , building a village in a small valley on the southern continent . This settlement occurred despite being warned that it was hotly disputed by the Cardassians . The group had left Earth 200 years before , in order to preserve their cultural identities , and had been searching for a new world ever since . They settled on Dorvan because the planet did not only have the right environmental conditions , but also was perceived as being welcoming in a spiritual way . In 2370 , after a long three years of drawn out negotiations , the Federation - Cardassian Treaty defined the final status of the border between the Federation and the Cardassian Union . The new border placed several Federation colonies in Cardassian space and vice versa . One of these Federation colonies , which the Starfleet planned to evacuate , was Dorvan V . This occurred despite an Indian representative being included in the deliberations of the Federation Council , and objecting . It was felt that the Dorvan settlers were a ic group that should never have settled on a disputed planet in the first place . Shortly thereafter , Starfleet sent the to relocate the settlers . Anticipating the possibility that they would refuse removal , its orders were to be to remove them by whatever means are necessary . The settlers indeed elected to stay , explaining that the place had a deep spiritual significance for them . A resolution to the conflict was reached when the colonists renounced Federation citizenship and agreed to be governed by the Cardassian government . ( ) Background information . The producers of originally intended Dorvan V to be Chakotay ' s homeworld . ( ) Although this idea was not established during " Voyager " s run , the " Voyager " relaunch novels state that Chakotay and his family were native to Dorvan V . However , established Chakotay ' s colony to have been established centuries ago , which does not appear to be consistent with , which stated that the settlers had been on Dorvan for about twenty years . Even though Picard ' s statement " Dorvan Five ? Isn ' t that where the group of North American Indians settled ? " to some degree implies that Dorvan is unique , Chakotay would seem to originate from a second planet of American Indians in the DMZ . The date the settlers left Earth can be constrained with some accuracy . It was said that the settlers left Earth " more then two hundred years ago " , but also that they had searched for the planet for " almost two hundred years " . Given that the settlers had been on the planet for " about twenty years " , they must have left Earth roughly between 181 and 219 years ago , or between 2151 and 2189 . Interestingly , this is consistent with the , a ship with Native American inspired naming that was launched in 2187 . According to " " ( p . 47 ) and " " ( " Federation Historical Highlights , 2161 - 2385 " ) , the Dorvan system was located in the Dorvan sector , in the Alpha Quadrant . This was a binary system with a and a K - class star . In the late 24th century , it was an independent system . The classified Dorvan V as a M - class planet .