Steele Indian School Park is located on the northeast corner of Indian School Road and Central Avenue in Encanto Village, Phoenix, Arizona.GeographyIndian School Road, on which the former Phoenix Indian School and the current Steele Indian School Park are located, is a major east/west arterial street connecting Central Phoenix and its western suburbs, such as Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, and Buckeye. To the east the street connects with Scottsdale (especially its downtown business, entertainment/nightclub and "Old Town" cultural and tourist district) and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.HistoryPhoenix Indian SchoolThe park is on the site of the Phoenix Indian School, one of several boarding schools owned and operated by the U.S. government, designed in the late 19th century to socialize and assimilate Native Americans into the dominant Euro-American socio-cultural system. These schools became controversial in later decades for the alleged mistreatment of their students, as well as the suppression and prohibition of the students' indigenous culture and languages.
