The Chieftain's skull was one of three important relics kept by the Tusken Raiders in their relic cave. The skull was what remained of a fallen Tusken chieftain. Kept as a shrine in the cave, the skull was placed on a throw pillow, and surrounded by an aura of green colored flames. The skull was eerie and humanoid in appearance.
The skull and two other relics were stolen by a spacer sometime after the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY. They were delivered to scholar Srimaur in the city of Mos Espa for study, but the theft enraged the Tuskens. In retribution, the Tusken King led an army of Sand People to invade Mos Espa.
The Chieftain's skull appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. The Chieftain's skull was added to the game along with the "Tusken Army" Heroic Encounter, introduced with the release of the "Chapter 7" update, on November 1, 2007.