Bright Tree tribe The Bright Tree tribe was an Ewok tribe from Bright Tree Village — a settlement located on the forest moon of Endor . At the time of the Battle of Endor , the tribe had been led by Chief Chirpa for forty - two seasons . After the Rebel Alliance ' s victory over the Galactic Empire at Endor , Chirpa was succeeded by his daughter Kneesaa . History . In 4 ABY , the Bright Tree tribe had been led by Chief Chirpa for forty - two seasons . At that time , aside from the Council of Elders , other figures of autority in the village included the shaman Logray and Chirpa ' s two best hunters , Asha Fahn and Teebo . Meanwhile , in the wider galaxy and far from the preoccupations of Ewoks , the Alliance to Restore the Republic waged war against the tyrannical Galactic Empire . One day , the Bright Tree scout Wicket W . Warrick discovered a female human lying unconscious in the forest . Said woman was , in fact , Prince ss Leia Organa , a leading member of the Alliance . Organa had landed on Endor with a Rebel strike team whose role was to deactivate a deflector shield generator protecting the second Death Star , a planet - killing battle station developed by the Empire . Warrick quickly bonded with the stranger , and helped her to the safety of his village . Elsewhere , some of the tribe ' s hunters captured two humans , one Wookiee and two droid s who were ensnared in the net of a trap . Unbeknownst to the Ewoks , their captives were respectively Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , Chewbacca , C - 3PO and R2 - D2 , the other members of Princess Leia ' s strike force . Upon seeing C - 3PO , a protocol droid with a shiny gold en plating , the hunters mistook him for a god and started venerating him . The Rebel captives were brought to the Bright Tree Village and , at first , the shaman Logray decided that Solo , Skywalker , Chewbacca and R2 - D2 would be sacrificed to serve as the main course at a banquet in C - 3PO ' s honor . Despite Leia Organa ' s intervention and C - 3PO ' s attempt at freeing his friends , the Ewoks refused to obey , and they only changed their minds when the so - called golden god used his magic . Actually , it was Skywalker , a Jedi Knight , who used the Force to elevate C - 3PO in mid air , which compelled the Ewoks to cut the Rebels loose . At night the Bright Tree villagers gathered in Teebo ' s hut , where they learned of the Empire ' s threat to the galaxy by listening to C - 3PO , who told them the whole story of the Rebel heroes . Inspired by the droid ' s tale , Chief Chirpa wanted to help the Rebels . But Logray , as a shaman , thought that his Ewoks should not meddle with matters that were beyond them . With the support of Teebo and Asha Fahn , Chirpa was able to overrule Logray , and he welcomed the Rebels as honorary members of the tribe . Having realized that their new friends were in fact heroes determined to destroy the cold metal moon hanging in the sky over their forest , the Bright Tree villagers agreed to help them . The Ewoks led the Rebels to the site of the bunker containing the shield generator , which had to be destroyed before the attack on the Death Star could begin . They also informed the Rebels that the bunker had a secret entrance . Paploo then stole an Imperial speeder bike , prompting scout trooper s to chase him , thus creating a diversion . Although the Rebels managed to enter the bunker , they were immediately captured by Imperials who had been expecting their attack . Although the Alliance ' s plan seemed to have failed , the Bright Tree warriors made a timely entrance , along with members of other tribes that had answered their call to war . Their primitive weapons felled the stormtrooper s and the scout walkers of the Empire . The tribe suffered losses , but its contribution allowed the Rebels to finally deactivate the deflector shield , which ultimately led to the Death Star ' s destruction in space above .