It's said to save a wandering tribe (5)
I believe the answer is:
horde
'a wandering tribe' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both groups as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'it's said to save' is the wordplay.
'it's said' shows a homophone (sound like).
'to save' becomes 'hoard' (hoarding is a kind of saving).
'hoard' is a homophone of 'HORDE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for horde that I've seen before include "Vast crowd" , "Large crowd" , "Great crowd" , "Many people" , "A swarm or multitude" .)