Ba'ku

The Ba'ku (from the Ka'bu term meaning "the Peaceful") are a humanoid civilization that reside on the planet Ba'ku located in Sector 441 of the Beta Quadrant. (Reference book: Star Trek: Star Charts).

Early history
In the early 21st century, the Ba'ku were a group of enlightened Ka'bu who resided on a planet near Sector 441. The Ka'bu were a technologically advanced species, and, as with many other technologically advanced species, they developed the ability to build weapons of mass destruction, and were on the brink of annihilating themselves. Realizing that their planet faces certain destruction, they took the name Ba'ku (meaning "the Peaceful"), and departed to find themselves a new homeworld in the Briar Patch.

Despite having advanced technology, the Ba'ku colonists decided to live a simple life and not be dependent on technology. The Ba'ku eventually discovered that the metaphasic radiation that was contained within the planetary rings caused their aging processes to be radically decreased, and they could live for centuries.

However, the Ba'ku's simple life style didn't appeal to some of the younger members of their society, and they rebelled against their elders and attempted to take over control of the colony. When the attempt proved to be unsuccessful, they were exiled from the colony, and the rebels eventually became the Son'a.

Contact with the Federation
In 2375, first contact was established between the Ba'ku and the United Federation of Planets during a failed "duck blind" operation on the planet with Son'a support, in which Lieutenant Commander Data, a Starfleet officer, revealed the covert nature of the mission, attacked the Son'a mission scout ship, and revealed to the Ba'ku that the Federation and the Son'a were their enemies.

Following the USS Enterprise-E shortly after, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew were able to learn that Admiral Matthew Dougherty was working with the Son'a to relocate the Ba'ku so that they could gain access to the metaphasic radiation within the planet's rings. Believing that this was fundamentally against everything the Federation stands for, Picard and his officers fought against Dougherty and the Son'a to keep the Ba'ku on the planet.

Following the destruction of the Son'a collector ship and the death of Son'a commander, Ru'afo, peace on the Ba'ku world was restored, and the Son'a were able to re-establish relations with their families after many years. (TNG movie novelization: Star Trek: Insurrection).