Wooka

Synonyms:	Wookaii, Kashyyyk
See also:
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While the canon name for the home planet of Wookiees is "Kashyyyk," some early Star Wars fans utilized the name "Wooka," or the variation, "Wookaii," instead. The early influential ThousandWorlds universe used the term, "Wook."

While fans ended up rejiggering this fanon term to fit the official Lucas term, others stuck with the old term.

cover of Against the Sith #4 (1979), "Cheo's Fortress on Wooka" -- artist is Beckey Aulenbach

Fan Use

In 1979, a fan asked:

If Wooka is such a warm, forested planet, why do the natives have all that fur?

In 1979, a fan wrote:

Did you think that wookies [sic] were native to Wooka (or Kazhyyk in Lucas-ese)...

In 1979, a fan used a variation of Wooka in a story:

"They stopped at a plaza where seven roads came together. Here, at the center of Ghrrkawrree traffic was heavy in the morning sunlight - speeders carrying human traders, Imperials, aliens and the Wookaiinnee, the People-of-the-Deepening. There were representatives of a thousand Enclosures from all over Wookaii, with their different shades of fur."

"Wookaii" got a big boost in 1981 with the popular story by Judi L. Hendricks and Paula Block:

""Naarugph," Chewbacca murmured, and her mind, paused to sort the unfamiliar dialect into, 'As well as can be expected,' accompanied by the verbal Wookaii 'shrug', the tilde held over the first syllable. "Maarf aaAArupphhh arrg GGIilrr."

From a fan in 1980:

Just to clear things up for those of you who maybe confused about it — we take "Kazhyyyk"" (Chewbacca's home planet, shown on the aforesaid Special) and "Wooka" (the world speculated on in our faction piece) as being two different planets. Wooka is where the race of Wookies originated. Kazhyyyk is where Chewie himself hails from. But being of jungly roots (pun intended), the Wookies naturally prefer to seed their colonies on jungle worlds when they can find them.

From a 1981 fan essay:

That Chewbacca comes from Kashyyyk and not Wooka is official. Now, it could be that their name for their planet translates into Standard as Kashyyyk, while the name for their species comes out as "Wookiee." I personally like one fan writer's theory better; in her opinion, Wooka is their planet of origin, while Kashyyyk is a colony world. It always seemed a little odd to me that a heavily furred, obviously carnivorous species lived in a rainforest environment more condusive [sic] to the development of herbivores. But whatever the reason behind it, we have at least had the name documented in both the Holiday Special and "The Wookiee Storybook": the name of Chewbacca's homeworld is Kashyyyk.

Just because "Kashyyyk" was recognized as "official" didn't stop all fans from utilizing "Wooka." In 1983, a fan's story included "kreeouf - a Wookan coming-of-age ceremony" and language:

"Finally, in the early evening of the second day, Chewbacca couldn't take it any longer. As soon as Tarnu arrived, the Wookiee ran out of the room cursing as many Wookan curses as he knew and inventing some new ones."

From a story in 2000:

"Well, if you gotta know everything, I tried one of the Wookan methods to feel the Force, and it worked."

Fanworks

• Where the Wookies [sic] Are, edited by Helen Montgomery ("Adapted from "Wooka: A Speculation Upon a World," the graduate thesis in xenobiology of Lyeia Cinadon, Class of 5905 (Old Republic Calendar), University of Alderaan.") (from Galactic Flight #2 (1979)
• Battle on Wooka by Nancy and Tracy (from Against the Sith #5 (1979)
• After Wooka part one, part two, fiction by Linda Ruth Pfonner (1983)