Jawa/Legends

"I can't abide those Jawas! Disgusting creatures!"

- C-3PO

Jawas were typically short humanoid natives of Tatooine. They were often scavengers, seeking out technology for sale or trade in the deep deserts in their huge sandcrawler transports. A band of Jawas was responsible for locating C-3PO and R2-D2 and selling them to Luke Skywalker's uncle Owen Lars. Another tribe of Jawas, led by Tteel Kkak, found Jabba the Hutt's rancor. They had a reputation for swindling, as they had a penchant for selling old equipment such as outdated droids to moisture farmers, but they were passive beings, and hardly put up any resistance to colonists of what is their planet, instead seeing them as an excellent business opportunity.

Physical description
"Utinni!"

- A commonly used Jawa cry



Many Jawas were about 1 meter tall, though some grew to 1 and a half meters, and were characterized by their brown robes, glowing yellow eyes, and quickly spoken language called Jawaese that included words such as "Utinni!" They were rodent-like in appearance, and considered "remarkably ugly" by most Humans. Jawa faces were obscured by a shroud of cloth to retain moisture. Some speculate that it is a cloud of insects that gathered in the recesses of their hoods, rather than mere cloth. Their particular stench was a combination of poor hygiene and a mysterious solution into which Jawas dip their clothes to retain moisture. To Jawas, the odor was packed with information about each other, such as clan lineage, health, emotional state, even the last meal eaten. Jawas also evolved several important survival traits, such as exceptional night vision, a strong immune system, and an efficient digestive system that drew all the needed nutrients from the Jawa staple diet of hubba gourd. Their average body temperature was 45ºC. For some reason, they could not stand the harmonica.

Culture
"Jawas&hellip; Never around when you need them."

- Kyle Katarn



Jawas had long been scavengers, as the Dune Sea provided a bounty of refuse. It was littered with spacecraft wreckage from millennia of star travel. The Jawas built homes and tools from these ancient scraps, and traveled the dunes in sandcrawlers, cast-off mobile smelters from failed outlander mining attempts. Jawas lived in clans, each with distinct territories for living and scavenging. In most Jawa clans, half the clan worked and lived in the sandcrawlers while the other family units dwelt in fortresses deep in the desert where collected wares were stored. These fortresses had high walls made from large chunks of old wrecked spaceships for protection against Sandpeople and krayt dragons.



A clan was led by a chief. Males were most often the leaders, while females were treated like second-class citizens at best, property at worst. The few females afforded respect in Jawa culture were the shamans. A Jawa became a shaman when she was overcome by an illness accompanied by a hallucinatory vision. Depending on the outcome of the vision, and assuming the Jawa survived the illness, she was usually decreed a shaman, and her words were given the respect that such wisdom commanded. Once a year, the scattered Jawa clans gathered for a great swap meet. Here, numerous sandcrawlers converged and the Jawas met to exchange salvage. Marriages were arranged and Jawa children and females were exchanged among clans.

History
"The Jawas have a tendency to pick up anything that's not tied down, Luke, but remember, they're basically afraid of their own shadows."

- Owen Lars to Luke Skywalker

The Jawas were descendants of the Kumumgah species which used to live on Tatooine long before the formation of the Galactic Republic. Later, the Rakata of the Infinite Empire punished the Kumumgah for defying their authority by unleashing an orbital bombardment that reduced the surface of the once lush world into little more than fused glass, which eventually crumbled and became desert sand. This extreme climatic change split the Kumumgah into two races: the tall Ghorfas (who evolved into the Sandpeople) and the short Jawas. It is worth noting, however, that during the Jedi Civil War the Jawas spoke of themselves in a manner that suggests they are unrelated to Sandpeople and are also non-native to Tatooine. Whether this is truth or else a ploy to distance themselves from their more violent cousins is unknown. Also, due to the fact that the Sand People knew their history from generations-old oral narratives, it is debatable if the Jawas even knew of the story.

Analyses of ancient stone carvings found on numerous worlds, including Corellia and even Coruscant, led scientists of the Imperial Archaeological Division in 1 ABY to propose the hypothesis that these carvings were of Jawa origin and that the race once traveled among the stars. It is not known whether further analysis proved their hypothesis to be true.

Millennia later, Czerka Corporation brought many sandcrawlers to Tatooine, though they abandoned the planet when they discovered the unstable nature of the local ores. The sandcrawlers were quickly adopted by the Jawas, who would use them as mobile homes. Although the planet was thereafter considered technically part of the Republic's Arkanis Sector, it was a part of Hutt Space by association. The abandoned sandcrawlers radically changed Jawa civilization, serving as mobile fortresses for Jawa tribes searching the deserts for materials to scavenge. The Jawas also emigrated to desert worlds, such as Ryloth. One was even seen on the planet Genon.

As colonists settled Tatooine, the Jawas were not as hostile towards them as the Sandpeople were. In their newly acquired sandcrawlers, Jawas would tour the desert, picking up old droids or equipment left by moisture farmers and other settlers, and would then either sell them to any willing customer or trade them for something else. Sometimes, Jawas would steal things that caught their eye, leading to settlers to regard them as untrustworthy. Presumably, they would use the money made from their dealings to acquire supplies or other necessities from the settlers.

Notable Jawas

 * Dathcha
 * R'kik D'nec
 * Herat
 * Iasa
 * Kalit
 * Aved Luun
 * Nebit
 * Het Nkik
 * Jek Nkik
 * Khea Nkuul
 * Thedit
 * Wimateeka
 * Wittin
 * Iziz

Behind the scenes

 * In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan is offered a cup of "Jawa Juice" at a Coruscant diner. There is a long-running Internet joke (popular on Star Wars fan forums) that it is made only from "freshly squeezed Jawas."




 * Fans also speculate what a Jawa looks like under the hood. In behind the scenes shots from Return of the Jedi the Jawas have squarish heads covered in black cloth with large yellow eyes that appear mechanical in appearance. However, it should be admitted that this is a costume and so may not represent their canonical appearance. The original Star Wars novelization implies a familial relationship between Jawas and Sandpeople. It also describes them as rodent-like and compares them to de-evolved Humans, though these could be mere metaphors. The Mystery of the Rebellious Robot calls them the "subHuman inhabitants of Tatooine."




 * Some Jawas have been heard to emit yells that sound very much like Ewok yells (compare A New Hope to Return of the Jedi). Perhaps there was a tie between the cultures or even species of the two, long since lost, although the history set forth in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic makes this improbable. Obviously the sound effects have been recycled, but one still wonders.


 * Though not an unsolved mystery per se, it is probable that Jawas hold quite a bit of power, despite their diminutive stature. Evidence of this is their privileged attendance in Jabba the Hutt's court and the fact that the stormtroopers attempted to cover up their massacre of a troupe of Jawas (but not the deaths of a few moisture farmers) and blame it on Tusken Raiders. However, it is likely that the wandering Jawas were more likely to be missed than the moisture farmers, at least not until the elements removed any evidence of Imperial involvement.


 * The look of the Weavers' guild in the LOOM computer game, by Lucasfilm, bears resemblance to that of the Jawas.

Notes and references
Jawas