In “This Is What it Means…” by Sherman Alexie, he describes the type of government that exists on reservations, such as the one that Victor and Thomas live in. Victor goes to see the counsel in order to receive financial assistance to go to his Dad who recently passed away in Phoenix. During this interaction, Alexie shows elements of this type of government. The first is that they are a tight-knit community of appointed individuals. They were selected by the community to assist the community. The other aspect of this government that is shown is that they are very poor. Victor asked for only $100 dollars and the counsel was not able to assist him, and they suggested that he seek help from someone else in the community, which did in fact end up working. As for Thomas’s experience within this community/government, he had been treated as an outcast. This is shown when Victor described him as the kid with a bunch of stories that no one wanted to listen to. This is also evident when they recall the story of Thomas falling and breaking his arm while the boys laughed at him and teased him.