The Kurtzen were a species of humanoid beings, distinguished by their hairless and pale skin, originating from the planet called Bakura. As the sole sentients indigenous to that world, their numbers were limited, and they became a minority after Human colonists arrived around 150 BBY. The Kurtzen suffered from a degenerative genetic disorder that hindered population expansion. Despite medical interventions provided by the Human settlers that helped manage the illness, the Kurtzen constituted only five percent of Bakura's inhabitants by 4 ABY. Furthermore, it was uncommon for a family to have more than two children survive to adulthood. Kurtzen society was structured around tribal and clan affiliations.
Upon their initial encounter with Human representatives of the Bakur Mining Corporation, the Kurtzen were peace-loving nomads possessing technology equivalent to the Stone Age. Their religious convictions revolved around a pervasive life force that could be directed through clothing and personal items known as totems or life trinkets; some scholars believed that these convictions arose as a consequence of population decline. However, by the time of the Galactic Civil War, many younger Kurtzen were moving away from their traditional customs, preferring to embrace the culture of the Human Bakurans. The Kurtzen were deeply appreciative of the medical and technological support they received from the Human Bakurans, and they were granted representation within the newcomers' governmental structure. During the Invasion of Bakura, two out of the forty seats in the Bakuran Senate were held by Kurtzen. The majority of the Kurtzen population resided in the Kishh district on the continent of Braad, and following Human colonization, the eastern continent of Kishh'daar, which was uninhabited, was designated for Kurtzen settlement once their population size justified it.
The Kurtzen were a species of sentients with a humanoid form, comprised of a head, torso, and four limbs. Their hands each possessed five digits, including an opposable thumb, and the tips of their fingers were protected by fingernails. Their hands were also capable of developing calluses from physical labor. The Kurtzen's skin, which was white in color, lacked hair, giving it a sheen in some individuals. Adult Kurtzen typically ranged in height from 1.2 to 1.7 meters, with an average height of 1.5 meters.
The facial features of the Kurtzen were largely humanoid, featuring two eyes situated above a prominent nose. Below the nose was a horizontal mouth, and ears were positioned on either side of the head. The nose was wide and relatively flat. The upper part of the head was covered in thick, bumpy skin protrusions that ran in rows from the back of the forehead to the crown.
Kurtzen were capable of breathing in atmospheres composed of Type 1 oxygen and nitrogen. Their diet included the meat of ungulate species native to their homeworld, Bakura. Their digestive system allowed them to ingest and process large objects within a single day. The Kurtzen possessed at least one sex, male. They experienced a high rate of infant mortality, with families typically seeing no more than two children survive to adulthood, even with access to advanced medical care. Kurtzen were considered to be elderly at the age of 60.
The Kurtzen were known for their gentle nature, quiet manner, and aversion to conflict. Throughout much of their history, they organized themselves into tribes and clans that journeyed through the forests of the planet Bakura as nomads with stone-age technology. These groups moved from one campsite to another, following herds of ungulate species, their primary source of sustenance. Kurtzen families maintained close bonds, and they celebrated the successes of their relatives.
Traditional Kurtzen culture was deeply rooted in religious beliefs. Their spirituality emphasized the channeling of life energies into small, tangible items, known as totems or life trinkets. By keeping these objects nearby, a Kurtzen sought to attract good fortune. The objects were used to draw in specific types of energy that were believed to be lacking internally. Conversely, a Kurtzen surrounded by unsuitable objects risked inviting negative energies into their body, potentially causing harm. The ultimate aim of these practices was to harmonize the internal body with the external world. Scholars have proposed that this philosophy of channeling unseen forces gained prominence during a period of population decline among the Kurtzen. Shamans served as religious leaders within Kurtzen communities.
Healing rituals were also based on the principle of restoring harmony between the body and its environment. During one healing ceremony, observed by Shi'ido Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole, a shaman prayed over an ailing boy while others circled the individual and chanted. When the patient's eyes widened and glazed over, the shaman placed a totem in the boy's mouth, which he swallowed. The shaman asserted that when the totem was later expelled, the illness would depart with it. In another ritual, witnessed by the Human Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo in 28 ABY, the healer was not a shaman but the Kurtzen maintenance worker Arrizza, who attempted to purify the spirit of the Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila. Arrizza began by closing his eyes and holding a totem in his hands, entering a trance-like state. While quietly reciting an incantation, Arrizza placed the totem on the patient's forehead and chest, bowed, took a deep breath, exhaled, and stepped back. The Kurtzen explained that the healing process could take as little as an hour, or as long as a year—or it might not be effective at all. Organa Solo noticed that Arrizza's mental signature changed when he entered the trance state.
Kurtzen clothing was designed to facilitate the wearer's receptivity to spiritual forces, channeling energy from the outside world into their inner being. As such, they favored garments in neutral colors, including sleeveless and short-sleeved robes and tunics, aprons, trousers, and boots. The airiness and openness of these garments, along with their color, were all intended to attract the universal power of life to the wearer. A typical Kurtzen wore a belt made from a wide strip of animal skin, featuring multiple pouches for holding totems important for religious and tribal purposes. They also wore clothing made from patched leather. Some Kurtzen wore bands around their wrists.
Following the colonization of their world by Humans, many Kurtzen began to abandon their own traditions in favor of those of the newcomers. Consequently, by 3 ABY, much of their tribal culture was becoming endangered. This shift was most evident between the older and younger generations. While adults and elders strove to preserve the old ways, many younger Kurtzen showed little interest in these practices, instead preferring what the Kurtzen referred to as "Core World philosophies." The same was true of the technology introduced by the offworlders; most Kurtzen over the age of sixty were uncomfortable with equipment from the greater galaxy. The exceptions were droids, which almost all Kurtzen mistrusted, and advanced medical care, which they recognized as essential for their continued survival. In fact, the medical assistance provided by the Human colonists fostered a deep loyalty to the Bakuran Humans among the Kurtzen. Because Bakurans generally distrusted droids, some Kurtzen took on menial tasks that, on other worlds, were typically performed by such automatons. These jobs included sanitation work, which required the use of hostile environment suits with coolant lines prone to clogging.
After the Human colonists on Bakura established their own government, they offered the Kurtzen representation in their Senate. The Kurtzen retained a degree of autonomy over the Kishh district of the Braad continent, their native territory, although they were still required to abide by Bakuran law and, during the rule of the Galactic Empire, Imperial law. While the Bakuran colonists generally distrusted non-Humans, they trusted the Kurtzen. The species largely abandoned its nomadic lifestyle and established settlements in the district. By 28 ABY, some Kurtzen felt like social outcasts on Bakura, relegated to a lower status in the Human-dominated society. The Kurtzen spoke a language named after them, but they were also capable of speaking Galactic Basic Standard.
The Kurtzen originated on the planet Bakura, where they evolved a stone-age tribal culture centered on nomadic life in the forests. Due to their homeworld's isolated location in the Wild Space region known as the Shiritoku Spur, the Kurtzen remained the only sentient inhabitants of their world until 153 BBY. In that year, Human scouts discovered deposits of metal and crystal, determining that Bakura was a suitable site for colonization.
Beginning in 16 BBY, the Kurtzen were experiencing high rates of illness and malnutrition, as well as a genetic disorder that was exacerbated by their small population size. The Bakur Mining Corporation offered the Kurtzen a deal: access to advanced medicine and technology in exchange for land and permission to mine. The Kurtzen readily accepted this offer. In 150 BBY, Human colonists chartered by the Bakur Corporation arrived to establish a mining settlement. The offworlders brought new technology with them, including droids. However, the droids rebelled—an event later known as the Bakura Droid Uprising—and the Kurtzen learned to distrust mechanicals from that point forward. Nevertheless, the Humans' technology effectively neutralized the genetic disorder, allowing Kurtzen populations to recover.
The arrival of the offworlders had other unforeseen consequences. For example, the Kurtzen largely abandoned their nomadic lifestyle, establishing settlements in the Kissh district of the Braad continent. Meanwhile, subsequent generations retained fewer and fewer of their traditions, to the point that, by 4 ABY, the elders feared that their children would abandon Kurtzen culture altogether. As a result, the elders initiated a program to preserve the old ways and teach them to the children.
Bakura was opened to further colonization during the Clone Wars. The Human population joined the Galactic Empire in 1 ABY, and by 4 ABY, the Kurtzen had two senators appointed to the forty-member Bakuran Senate to represent Kishh; however, these senators were not allowed to vote on issues related to the Empire. The Kurtzen maintained control over Kissh, provided they adhered to Bakuran laws. The Humans also designated the uninhabited Kishh'daar continent for Kurtzen settlement when their population grew large enough to warrant it. Despite access to advanced medicine, the Kurtzen numbered fewer than 68 million—only five percent of Bakura's population—in 4 ABY. Although the population was slowly increasing, these numbers remained relatively stable even after the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the New Republic. Bakura rejected membership in the New Republic, but the Kurtzen's rights were expanded after the end of Imperial rule. Bakura normalized relations with the rest of the galaxy during this period, leading to increased medical and technological aid for the Kurtzen.
The traditional ways were still practiced when Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole visited Bakura; his observations about a Kurtzen healing ritual were included in the book The Essential Guide to Alien Species, which was published after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. The species' faith in totems remained strong in 28 ABY; in that year, the Kurtzen Arrizza accessorized the environment suit he wore as a sanitation worker with a belt of pouches, in which he carried totems. Arrizza became allied with an intelligence organization known as the Ryn Network and with their operative Goure Conor during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. In this role, Arrizza assisted the Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila and Conor in infiltrating the Bakuran Senate Complex to access its internal data networks. Arrizza was also knowledgeable about Kurtzen healing rituals, despite his job as a sanitation worker. He performed one such ceremony for Tahiri when she was struggling with her alter-ego, Riina Kwaad—the result of having undergone shaping by the Yuuzhan Vong named Mezhan Kwaad. Arrizza used a pendant to the Yuuzhan Vong god Yun-Yammka as a totem during the ceremony and declared that Tahiri would need to find equilibrium with the other identity, rather than trying to eliminate it.
A small number of Kurtzen left Bakura to explore the wider galaxy. For example, in 8 ABY, a Kurtzen participated in an auction at Mawbo's Performance Hall on the planet Tatooine. This Kurtzen attempted to purchase a holocube that supposedly contained an image of the Human Anakin Skywalker as a nine-year-old boy. The Kurtzen was outbid by the Squib Sligh, who was acting as a proxy for the Human smuggler Han Solo.