Encountered by USS Voyager in 2373, the Nechani were physically similar to humans. Their main religious belief revolved around the ancestral spirits. Underground sanctuaries and temples were maintained by the Brothers of the Nechisti Order, who dedicated their lives to serving the spirits.
In 2373 USS Voyager visited the Nechani homeworld by invitation and crew members were beamed to the surface for a few days of shore leave. While exploring an underground sanctuary, Kes and Neelix discovered a temple that Kes wished to investigate. Kes was unaware that the temple, maintained by the monks of the Nechisti Order, was sacred to the Nechani. Upon entering the temple Kes was hit by a biogenic field and knocked unconscious. She was beamed to Voyager and found to be suffering from a severe neurolectric shock. Captain Janeway was eventually forced to undergo a Nechisti purification ritual so that she could petition the Nechani ancestral spirits and plead for Kes' life. After being told to take Kes back into the temple, Janeway complied and Kes was healed. The ritual had prepared Janeway's body for the intense biogenic field in the temple that had originally almost killed Kes. The initial noncompliance of the Nechani, who had believed that Kes had been punished for violating the temple, had prevented Voyager from scanning the temple and developing a method that would have allowed them to quickly treat Kes.