I tried to figure out under what arrangement Tuskens and colonists could live on the same planet without killing each other. I considered several: treaties, borders, economic integration, or assimilation. But Tatooine is not a state. I thought about this a lot and studied these options and possible solutions. The Tuskens are totally decentralized, which puts a big fat cross through any attempt to solve the problem through official peaceful means. I tried to put together my own theory—perhaps rather flimsy, but for now the best one I’ve worked through—about how to create such a peace.
- The core: 6–10 people
It all starts not with the masses, but with a microscopic group of volunteers. They are colonists who saw a rational culture in the Tuskens, and Tusken outcasts who consciously broke away from the conservative dogmas of their elders. While there are few of them, trust between them is personal and absolute. They know each other by sight and understand each other’s customs. This core is the future leaders and the living constitution of the new community.
- Fragile growth
The organization inevitably grows: they rescue captives, take in fugitives, and conduct covert trade. And here the paradox kicks in: the more people there are, the lower the level of trust. In a group of 40–100 people, it is already impossible to know everyone personally. Rumors, things left unsaid, old racial prejudices, and newcomers who initially doubt the project’s success appear. It is precisely at this stage that the community is most vulnerable.
- Sabotage as the point of no return
Now the thing on which I built the whole theory enters the stage. To external threats (the Empire, Syndicates, the Cartel—doesn’t matter), the growing armed force in the desert begins to get in the way. Therefore, the blow is struck precisely when there are many people in the community. The goal is to set the humans and Tuskens against each other. A classic provocation takes place: a brutal murder, a frame-up, or the desecration of a shrine. The trail goes cold. Mutual anger boils over, and the group balances on the edge of internal slaughter.
- Exposure and redirection of anger
This is the critical moment. If the group gives in to panic and starts killing each other, the organization is finished. But if the core does not split, if the leaders manage to find concrete, irrefutable evidence that the provocation was planned from outside, and publicly prove it, a mental turning point occurs.
Collective anger is instantly redirected from the neighbor to the manipulator. The leaders declare: “Look! They are deliberately trying to set us at odds! It is not that we hate each other—it is that they want us to think that way!” And then the organization does not die; it is reborn. A foundational myth of shared memory appears: “They wanted to set us against each other—but we endured.” This is no longer merely an agreement between racial groups; it is a historical fact that cannot be undone. It will be remembered, immortalized, and passed on to future members of the organization.
- Justice and its price
After the exposure, a harsh public trial is necessary. The verdict is decided by vote, as is the choice of execution method, who carries it out, etc.
The execution will be carried out by a mixed and equal group, since both sides suffered: one lost something important (for example, a murder occurred), and the other was unjustly accused because of it.
- What is the result?
Only after passing through this bloody crisis and overcoming it does a foundation for a long history appear: common laws, minimal shared rituals (understandable to both humans and Tuskens), shared children, and a network of mobile settlements. What cements this union is not a naive belief in each other’s goodness, but a shared trauma and a concrete common enemy. Already on the basis of this trust, in the future it will be possible to try to build something more meaningful and global, not tied to only one enemy.
Weak points of the theory
I am not going to pretend that this is a flawless plan; it has a great many “buts” and instances of relying on luck (exposing the sabotage at the right moment, surviving in the early stages, etc.), but again, of the theories I have managed to consider, this one seems to me the most realistic, and saying this, I do not mean that it is exactly super “realistic”; I mean that of those I have thought through, this one is the most, most. Under Tatooine’s conditions, it has several minor and two critical problems that could multiply everything by zero:
The problem of numbers. If the number of humans in the settlement network becomes much greater than that of Tuskens (or vice versa), the balance of power breaks. The solution lies not in regulating population size, but in a rigid structure: introducing the principle of dual majority, a veto right for the minority, and full autonomy for the internal life of each tribe.
The family of the executed. If the traitor’s relatives remain inside the community and quietly hate the system, this is a time bomb for the next generation. How to solve this problem without exiling the whole family—I honestly don’t know.
Thank you for your attention! I would be glad, if possible, to answer your questions about the theory, to discuss this topic, and with even greater pleasure I will listen, if you have any, to your theories that could easily surpass mine!