So in a different topic, @ZceeNook put forward some of his own ideas for the Stone Tribe before the gods’ war with Makuta, which I will henceforth call the “Elemental War”. So going off of his topic, the Stone Tribe was an empire with a very rigid caste structure before the Elemental War, designed by Makuta, and was actually named after the element of Ketar.
Now, after the war, they are instead the Sand Tribe, even though Ketar is still considered the god of stone, and as such are (in my headcanon at least, possibly contradicted by the podcasts, which I haven’t listened to atm) a collection of nomadic clans wandering a very Sahara-esque desert. Perhaps this could be symbolism for the fact that their previously solid (like a rock) god had been dissolved by Makuta, and his previously beautiful region beaten and battered into a treacherous waste.
On the topic of why Ketar, his people, and his land would take such a battering, perhaps it is due to Makuta’s tight control in the area. Being the embodiment of control and order, Makuta acted as the anchor for the region, and when he was seperated from it from by his child, the powers of stone were broken, and the powers of solidity and strength they granted were lost to all but the most devoted (a la Pohatu, cuz he’s been blessed). Instead, the Sand Tribe draws energies of survival and motion from their broken god, the energy of the sandstorm.
…and now I want them to be Fremen, goshdarnit.