Skrreea The Skrreea , or Skrreeans , were an intelligent humanoid species from the Gamma Quadrant . They were an agricultural and matriarchal society . Physiology . The Skrreea appeared much like Human s , though they also had unusual skin which appeared rough . It had a condition which caused them to leave flakes of skin behind . This caused those who weren ' t used to it to treat Skrreea with disdain and believe that they were " dirty " . The women of this race often were taller and larger than the men . Language and culture . The Skrreea lived in a matriarchal society , as Skrreean male s were considered far too emotional to be leaders and were constantly fighting among themselves . It was not unusual for Skrreean females to have multiple spouses . Most Skrreeans were farmers of some sort . The Skrreea had a legend of their destined homeworld , Kentanna . It was said to be just beyond the Eye of the Universe , and a " planet of sorrow " which the Skrreea would end and bring happiness with their arrival . The Skrreean spoken language had a unique syntax and grammatical structure from Alpha Quadrant language s . This caused the universal translator of Alpha Quadrant species to struggle with it initially before it could establish a translation matrix . ( ) History . The Skrreea were conquered by the T - Rogoran s in the 16th century . The T - Rogorans slaughtered the Skrreea ' s leaders and forced the rest of the population into slavery . By 2370 , the T - Rogorans were themselves conquered by the Dominion . The Skrreea took this opportunity to flee their homeworld in whatever ships they had , in search for the Eye of the Universe . One ship , carrying Haneek and her family , discovered the Bajoran wormhole and identified it as the Eye . Arriving at Deep Space 9 , Haneek studied Bajoran history , and assumed that Bajor was Kentanna . Some three million Skrreean refugee s subsequently arrived at Deep Space 9 in search of aid . With no established government , the Skrreea chose Haneek as their leader . Haneek petitioned the Bajoran Provisional Government to allow her people to settle on Bajor . They proposed to use their agricultural technology to reclaim land that was damaged by the Cardassian s and thus they would be able to support themselves , without relying on the Bajorans . The Bajorans still refused , insisting that they were struggling to provide for their own people ' s needs and could not take in three million refugees ; if something were to go wrong with the Skrreean ' s plan , the Bajorans would feel obligated to help them for humanitarian reasons . Haneek ' s teenage son , Tumak , was angered by this decision and attempted to land one of the Skrreean ships on Bajor . Unfortunately , Tumak was unaware that the Skrreean ship had suffered a high - energy radiation leak . During a short battle with the Bajoran Militia , phaser fire ignited the radiation leak and destroyed the Skrreean ship , killing Tumak and his companions . Haneek reluctantly accepted an offer from the Federation to colonize Draylon II , saying that " Bajor is not Kentanna " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The spelling of the Skrreean race comes from the script for " Sanctuary " which also gives the pronunciation as " SKREE - uh " . Of their appearance , it goes on to describe , " " . . . their garb is scruffy , their dark skin an off - putting mass of lumps and eczema - like scales . " " In designing the appearance of the Skrreea , the producers specifically wanted none of the standard makeup appliances to be used at all . Instead , they asked the makeup department to create a skin texture that made them stand out . Makeup Designer Michael Westmore suspended tiny clay balls into a layer of latex and applied that to the surface of the actors ' faces . When it dried , the coating looked like a layer of skin with hundreds of bumps spread throughout . Although the first test subject was regarded as looking like a Human with a terrible skin disease , the entire group of actors together were deemed to look like a race . ( " " , pp . 152 - 153 ; " Michael Westmore ' s Aliens : Season Two " , DS9 Season 2 DVD special features ) Apocrypha . In the " " novel " Cathedral " , the character Vedek Solis Tendren recalls the Skrreean problem when settling the Europani on Bajor . Tendren wishes that the Skrreea had been allowed to settle on the planet and farm the land as by 2376 , the northwest peninsula is still underdeveloped . The Skrreea are mentioned by Doctor Meron Byxthar in the Pocket TNG novel " Losing the Peace " . A sociological expert , Byxthar once observed life on the Skrreean communes on Draylon II as part of her work .