Ghorfa

"Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters."

- Cliegg Lars

Sandpeople, sometimes referred to as Tusken Raiders, were a group of nomadic sapients indigenous to Tatooine. They acquired the name Tusken Raiders from their attack on one of Tatooine's earliest modern settlements, Fort Tusken, although they referred to themselves as Ghorfa.

The Sandpeople inhabited The Needles in the rocky Jundland Wastes and commonly performed raids on borderline colonist communities. Any creatures, particularly offworlders, were subject to the savage attacks of the territorial hunters. Riding on trained banthas, the Sandpeople would swiftly appear from the desert, riding in single file to conceal their numbers, and then reenter the cover of the dunes.

History
"They're animals. So I slaughtered them like animals."

- Anakin Skywalker

The Sandpeople were the survivors of the Kumumgah that defied the Rakatan Infinite Empire. This defiance was punished with holocaust as the surface of the once lush world of Tatooine was bombarded into little more than fused glass, which eventually crumbled and became desert sand. This drastic climatic change split the indigenous Kumumgah into two races: the Ghorfas (the ancestors of the Sand People) and the Jawas.

Tatooine was first discovered by the Republic in 5,000 BBY by spacers. The Human settlers disrupted the Ghorfa culture, causing the Ghorfa culture to evolve into that of the Sandpeople. In 95 BBY, a settlement called Fort Tusken was wiped out by the Sandpeople. This has caused the resentment between the settlers and the Sandpeople. From that point on the humans referred to the Sandpeople as "Tusken Raiders".

Appearance
While clearly humanoid, scientific studies of the few dead Sand People found were inconclusive. To shield themselves from the harsh winds and intense heat of the Tatooine desert, Sandpeople covered themselves in sand-colored rags, robes and head covers. Their eyes were covered with visor which probably shielded them from the sunrays. below the eyes two pipes were protruding from the mask, probably to facilitate breathing. A constantly open mouthpiece covered the area below the nose.

Except for their wedding night, birth, and in the privacy of their tents, Tuskens were forbidden to take off their protective clothing. Breaking this rule meant either banishment or death. Sand People were also recognizable by their fierce gaderffii and long-barreled slugthrower rifles.

Familial Structure
Sand People organized into clans and tribes, the former ranging between 20 to 30 beings, and the latter with no bounds. Males assumed the role of hunter and protector, while females cared for the young, known as uli-ah, and the temporary camps. After completing the rites of adulthood, Sandpeople were paired for marriage in a ceremony involving blood exchanges between the male, female and their banthas.

Rituals
Many rituals held Sand People society together. Adolescent Sand People were tasked with a ritual known as "bloodrite" whereby a young one proved his hunting skills by capturing a creature and fatally torturing it with techniques extending the pain for weeks before death. Most opted for creatures like bantha or desert wraid, but the greatest prestige was reserved for a hunter who performed the rite upon a sentient being. The final test of an adult male was to hunt and slay a krayt dragon.

Language
The Sand People spoke a guttural language known as Tusken that produced long individual names such as Grk'Urr'Akk, Grk'kkrs'arr, Orrh Or'Ur and Orr'UrRuuR'R. Shorter names also appeared amongst Sand People such as K'Sheek, although it is unclear if they are full names or shortened versions. Words include urtah (carrying pack) and urtya (light tent). As a rule, Tuskens also possessed a rudimentary knowledge of Huttese and Jawaese, as they came into contact with these languages quite frequently.

With no written language, the Sand People relied on oral history to pass down the legends and stories of their people. As such, storytellers were held in the highest regard and charged with the responsibility of memorizing by rote the story of every clan member and piece of clan history. For apprentice storytellers, the pressure to memorize the stories precisely was intense: a single mistake meant death. If an apprentice storyteller successfully recites a story perfectly, he becomes the clan's storyteller while the old one wanders off into the desert forever.

Banthas
For transportation, Sand People domesticated the hardy bantha, a long-haired spiral-horned quadruped also found on Tatooine. They formed unique bonds with their bantha mounts, and when a mount died, the rider was often left behind to wander the desert alone. They held that if the fallen bantha's spirit wished for the rider to find a new mount, it would be so. If not, the rider would die amongst Tatooine's endless dunes.

Notable Sand People

 * A'Sharad Hett, Clone Wars era Jedi
 * A-Zulmun, tribal leader and slayer of Ranon Djlekh
 * Hoar, the only known tusken to master the ancient art of Teräs Käsi
 * Jundland Banshee, a rogue Sand Person
 * Orr Agg R'orr, sniped Teemto Pagalies at the Boonta Eve Classic
 * RR'uruurr, attacked Luke Skywalker in the Jundland Wastes
 * Raito, known for his ability to hunt and slay Jedi during the Great Sith War era
 * Sharad Hett, Old Republic era Jedi, father of A'Sharad
 * Sliven, foster father of Tahiri Veila
 * Tahiri Veila, Jedi Knight raised by Sand People
 * URoRRoR'R'R, a skilled hunter who captured Luke Skywalker and R2-D2.

Behind the scenes

 * In Star Wars films, Sandpeople fire upon podracers during the Boonta Eve Classic in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, killed Anakin Skywalker's mother in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and attacked Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Humorously enough, they are accurate enough with their fire to actual hit one of the podracers, in spite of Obi-Wan's Episode IV comment, "these blast points... too accurate for sandpeople. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise" (although stormtroopers are notoriously atrocious shots in the Original Trilogy).
 * In the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the side-quests requires that the player infiltrate a Sandpeople village. Upon doing so, an extremely long history of the Sandpeople is presented to the player.
 * In the Xbox adventure game Obi-Wan set during and a bit before the events of the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi is forced to rescue the Queen of Naboo (or one of her doubles) after she is abducted by Tuskens during the layover on Tatooine. In the game, Kenobi must even stalk through a communal Tusken burial site. As Obi-Wan Kenobi the player must track the Raiders through their extensive canyon dwellings among old scavenged shipwrecks turned to fortresses and eventually do battle with a Tusken war chief a significantly larger Tusken than the others, who intended to keep the queen as a trophy. A sequence of cultural interest depicts the Tuskens solemnly and ceremoniously conceding defeat after Obi Wan demands to be allowed to return to safety with the Queen since he has defeated the Tusken war chief.
 * Grave Tuskens appear in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II as henchmen to the Dark Jedi Jerec and Maw on the moon of Sulon. This is the only appearance of Sandpeople off Tatooine.
 * In the PC game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its sequel, there is a hidden easter egg in the first Chewbacca campaign. Over in the far right corner of the level, under the fog of war, is a scene similair to the Obi-Wan mission above. This can only be accessed by a combination of Cheat Codes dissipating the fog of war. And success in the mission is not lost if the side-mission is failed.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
 * ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars Republic: Outlander
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Star Wars Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Promises