Jawa camp

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Tatooine

• Affiliation:
  Jawa

• 

From the Movies

Though Jawas spend a great amount of time aboard their immense sandcrawlers, some tribes do establish stationary settlements of varying permenance. Even the most temporary of encampments show the Jawas' instincts for desert survival, offering shelter from battering sandstorms or the searing Tatooine suns. During his search for his mother, Anakin Skywalker consulted a Jawa camp for directions to a nearby Tusken Raider village.

From the Expanded Universe

A common misconception among outlanders is that Jawas live their entire lives aboard their treaded homes. Their gigantic sandcrawlers do serve as mobile sanctuaries, but they are ultimately scouting vehicles that allow Jawas increased mobility in gathering scrap and selling and trading their wares.

Vital water-gathering gear and other survival equipment is eventually brought back to stone and metal fortresses deep in the Tatooine deserts. These settlements are built to protect the Jawas from Sand People or roaming krayt dragons. Fortresses are typically constructed around a cistern and a means of preserving the water within. Since Jawa chiefs are usually aboard the roaming sandcrawler, the highest ranking Jawa within a fortress is a female shaman.

Jawas also maintain more temporary shelters when multiple sandcrawlers convene to do business. On a large scale, the Jawas hold an annual swap meet prior to the Tatooine storm season, wherein the scattered Jawa clans collect to trade goods, tell stories and even exchange sons and daughters as "marriage merchandise."

Behind the Scenes

The design of a tent-covered Jawa camp stems back to a painting classic trilogy concept illustrator Ralph McQuarrie did years ago. The concept was revisited and made real by ILM for Episode II under the supervision of Brian Gernand. The finished model was completed in just 14 hours and covered three square feet. To scale, it was envisioned as towering about 80 feet tall, large enough to cover a sandcrawler.