Once we know Wicket is friendly, the other ewoks that Han,Luke, etc encounter are less-threatening. Also, it tells us where Leia is before we see her.
What if you cut out the Wicket/Leia scene and went right from her fall of the speeder/Luke's fight to the search for Leia-capture?
That way we are with the heroes in wondering where Leia went...until she shows up at the village.
So we'd sorta have a little more fear that these little bears might really have the heroes for dinner until she appears. It adds some tension.