Inheritor

"Inheritors" was the name given to a small group of Human nomadic hunters around 43,000 BC, by an alien race known only as "the Sky Spirits," to whom they imparted a genetic bonding so they might thrive and protect their world.

On subsequent visits to Earth, the Sky Spirits found that their genetic gift had brought about a spirit of curiosity and adventure, which impelled the Inheritors to migrate away from their cold climate to the North and South American continents, where, over the course of nearly a thousand generations, they gave rise to Native American tribes, including the Rubber Tree People. Eventually they numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but thousands of years later were decimated by invaders from other lands. Those who survived scattered, many seeking refuge in other societies. When the Sky Spirits eventually returned, they found no signs of the Inheritors' existence.

In 2372, the USS Voyager discovered the Sky Spirits' homeworld in the Delta Quadrant. At first the Spirits hid themselves, believing that the Humans came to conquer them as they did the Inheritors. Using advanced cloaking and weather-control technology, they attempted to halt Voyager's landing. The Spirits eventually revealed themselves, however, when Voyager's first officer, Commander Chakotay, himself a descendant of the Rubber Tree People, was able to contact them and assure them of their peaceful intentions.