Piper’s Fuzzies - Adorable, Annoying, or Allegorical?

H Beam Piper was a prolific writer in the golden age of science fiction. Little of his work is remembered nowadays, with one exception: “Little Fuzzy,” published shortly before Piper’s death. The clever, pint-sized Fuzzies bear an uncanny resemblance to Lucas’s Ewoks. Coincidence?