Sabaku no Tami

People of the Desert (砂漠の民), or The Desert Tribe, is an emonogatari written and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki. It was serialized, under the pseudonym Akitsu Saburō (秋津三朗), and ran in Boys and Girls Newspaper (少年少女新聞) between September 12, 1969, and March 15, 1970.

Story
The story is set in the distant past, on the fictionalised desert plains of Central Asia. Part of the story takes place in the fortified city named Pejite (ペジテ). The story follows the exploits of the main character, Tem (テム), a shepherd boy of the fictional Sokut (ソクート) tribe, as he tries to evade the mounted militia of the nomadic Kittāru (キッタール) tribe. In order to restore peace to the realm, Tem rallies his remaining compatriots and rebels against the Kittāru's attempts to gain control of the Sokut territory and enslave its inhabitants through military force.

Background, publication and influences
Miyazaki initially wanted to become a mangaka but started his professional career as an animator for Toei Animation in 1963. Here he worked on animated television series and animated feature-length films for theatrical release. He never abandoned his childhood dream of becoming a mangaka completely, however, and his professional debut as a manga creator came in 1969 with the publication of his manga adaptation of Puss 'n Boots, which was serialized in 12 weekly chapters in the Sunday edition of Tokyo Shimbun, from January to March 1969. It was in color and created for promotional purposes in conjunction with his work on Toei's anime film of the same title, directed by Kimio Yabuki.

In 1969 pseudonymous serialization also started of Miyazaki's original manga People of the Desert (砂漠の民). This manga was influenced by illustrated stories (絵物語) he read in boys' magazines in his youth, such as Soji Yamakawa's Shōnen Ōja (少年王者) and in particular Tetsuji Fukushima's Demon King of the Desert (沙漠の魔王).

People of the Desert was serialized for 26 chapters weekly in Boys and Girls Newspaper (少年少女新聞), a publication of the Japanese Communist Party, between September 12, 1969 (issue 28) and March 15, 1970 (issue 53). Miyazaki made the manga under the pseudonym Akitsu Saburō (秋津三朗).

The strip has been identified as a precursor for Miyazaki's manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1982–1995) and later emonogatari Shuna's Journey (1983), published by Tokuma Shoten.