The community seems to be a little bit split on this issue,

Personally i do tend to play fairly alone although im not totally isolated, however i do believe i shou;d still have to right to build a small "base of operations" just like anyone else in a larger tribe. One of the issues seems to be about the amount of land is left unusuable because a small tribe sets up shop.

Well, how about if when a tribe is first started and land is claimed the area that is closed off for use by the tribe (and future expansion potential) is maybe 20% of what it is now. A timer starts and if after say 48 hours the tribe has 5 or more members then the area converts to a full settlement size 100% of what it is now. If after 48 hours it still a small or 1 man tribe then its area is restricted to a smaller "camp" this will stay this way until 5 members have joined. Of course IF within this time another tribe has claimed the nearby space then tough the chance is missed.

Id just like to add that i would have no problem with single player totems not being safe zones if no other totem zones were saFE either but thats a different issue. Its worth remembering though that usuable tribe safe lands is already scaled so as a small or single player tribe is safe in much less space as those in a larger tribe