Hoka

The Hokas are a mammalian species from the planet Toka in the Hoka Universe.

Biology
A meter tall, tubby and golden-furred, with round blunt-muzzled heads and small black eyes. Except for the stubby-fingered hands, they resembled nothing so much as giant teddy bears.Despite their small size they are quite strong creatures, able to lift a full grown human woman with ease, and even their neck muscles are near unbreakable that make hanging non-fatal.

History
Before the cultural interference by humans, the Hokas were a bronze age culture. Only their walled sea-coast towns, in a state of bronze-age technology, had been able to stand off the Slissü; otherwise the reptiles were slowly but steadily conquering the scattered ursinoid tribes.

The Hokas were discovered by an expedition from the Interbeing League. Taking pity on the cute furry aliens, the humans gave the Hokas technology and knowledge, based on the American West.

The HMS Draco from Earth return three decades later and found that the Hokas modeled their entire society with detail on the Old West era.

The Hokas sent representatives to Earth where they encountered a Sophrano drama series on TV. They then rapidly redeveloped their culture to reflect the Iltalian mannerism and styles.

Culture
The Hokas were described as friendly, merry, amazingly quick to learn… and hopelessly inefficient. Despite being faced with insurmounting odds, a Hoka fought bravely when he was attacked, but shoved all thought of the enemy out of his cheerful mind whenever the danger was not immediately visible. However they were highly indivdualitic beings and never had the thought to band together in a massed offensive against the Slissü; such a race of individualists could never have formed an army anyway.

Cultural Contamination
The Hokas are the most imaginative race of beings in known space, and doubtless in unknown space too. Any role that strikes their fancy they will play, individually or as a group, to the limits of the preposterous and beyond. This does not imply deficiency of intellect, for they are remarkably quick to learn. It does not even imply that they lose touch with reality; indeed, they have been heard to complain that reality often loses touch with them. It does demonstrate a completely protean personality. Added to that are a physical strength and energy astonishing in such comparatively small bodies. Thus, in the course of a few short years, the "demon teddy bears," to use a popular phrase for them, have covered their planet with an implausible kaleidoscope of harlequin societies describable only by some such metaphor as the foregoing…

Appearances

 * Earthman's Burden (1957)