In the year 32 BBY, a Tusken war chief made his home near a Tusken burial ground, just outside of Mos Espa. He commanded his clan of Tusken Raiders and used a broken-down sandcrawler as their base of operations. He also held the Queen of Naboo captive, viewing her as a prize.
When Padmé Amidala, the Queen's handmaiden, landed on the desert planet of Tatooine in 32 BBY, she went to the nearby city of Mos Espa with Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi, Jar Jar Binks, and R2-D2. While they were gone, Sabé, who was acting as Queen Amidala, received a message from Governor Sio Bibble, who urged her to contact him on Naboo. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jinn's Padawan, advised against this, and she listened to his advice. She couldn't do anything without the real Queen's permission anyway, but she still found the situation very stressful.
While they waited, Sabé was captured by Tusken Raiders and brought to the war chief. Kenobi followed them through their network of canyon dwellings and past old salvaged wreckage. He had to go through a Tusken burial site to find her. He found the decoy Queen being held in a broken-down vehicle they were using for shelter, and this led to a fight with the war chief, who he defeated. Strangely, the remaining Sand People respectfully acknowledged their defeat after Kenobi demanded that he and Sabé be allowed to return to safety. After killing the Tusken war chief and saving Sabé, they went back to the ship and waited for the others to come back.
Years later, while hiding on Tatooine, Kenobi remembered this event during a meditative talk with the Force spirit of his former Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.
The Tusken war chief appeared as a boss character in the video game Star Wars: Obi-Wan.