1 Chewbacca: Did you know that originally the Empire was going to build the second Death Star near the Wookiee home world?
2 Wicket: Yeah, but instead they chose Endor, where we Ewoks live.
3 Wicket: It was us who had to fight off the technological might of the Empire with nothing but sticks and stones!
4 Chewbacca: Yeah, you really took a hit for the credibility and reputation of us Wookiees, thanks!

George Lucas's original vision for Return of the Jedi was to have the final battle on the Wookiee home world. In his conception, the Wookiees would have been the primitive tribespeople who conquered the might of the Empire.

As it turned out, the character of Chewbacca had evolved quite a bit over the first two films, so it no longer felt like he came from a primitive society, so the idea was changed to use the Ewoks instead.

Imagine if the movie had gone with the original premise, and we'd seen a bunch of Wookiees defeating the Empire, armed with sticks and stones. This could go one of two ways: The Wookiees would appear even more badass, or the Wookiees would end up appearing ridiculous and reviled like the Ewoks are.

Maybe it's better to have the Ewoks as a target after all?