In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie we see the government/rulership follow that of a tribal governance system. The tribe is the primary unit of government, and leadership is determined by a council of elders or other traditional leaders. Some of the characteristics of this type of government are that it is decentralized and focused on the needs of the tribe as a whole, rather than the interests of any one individual or group. We see this when the victor goes to the tribe to ask for money and they collectively make a decision to only afford to give him 100$ dollars. As an allegorical figure, Thomas-build-a-fire represents the struggle of Native Americans to retain their cultural identity and traditions in the face of external pressures. Throughout the short story, we see Thomas grappling with his identity as a Native American and his relationship to his culture and community for the stories he would tell about his dreams and visions. He becomes an outcast that even by the end of the film loses his friendship with victor as he himself doesn’t want to become a outcast like Thomas-build-a-fire