Steele Indian School Park

Elite '08

670

306

Thomas S.

Phoenix, AZ

I almost feel bad giving a mediocre review to a park. Yea, you know a place with trees, grass, picnickers and such. Like how can it defend its poor dried up self. It's like picking on Phyllis Diller. But seriously, Phoenix, this is our big main park? This is our Central Park? Ugh! Well, let's just say SISP needs a makeover more than Ty Pennington needs to put down that damn megaphone. Yea. More than that. I've been here for many events. Most recently to walk our beloved Emilie. Oh. She's a dog by the way. This massive inner city urban park was completely empty on a Sunday afternoon. Mind you it was 158 degrees out. So how about making some water-type activities available. And I don't mean the sludgy pond with the homeless man peeing in it. Dare I say, a water slide. Or putt putt golf where it mists on you all the time. Or the world's largest slip n slide. Let's be creative here. The grass was crunchier than a Berkley lesbian. The landscape was as desolate as Jessica Simpson's mind. Just sad. I want a park. I want a landmark park. Any ideas yelpers???

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6

24

Sara H.

Phoenix, AZ

I was pleasantly surprised by this park this morning.  My first intention was to find the dog park.  I ended up parking pretty far away from it...so, I saw a majority of the park.  I LOVE the garden that we stumbled into on the south end of the park.  It was so clean and well maintained. I would have never expected that in downtown Phoenix.  

I really like the desert landscape inside the dog park.  My boyfriend poses this question in some form or fashion regularly  - why grow plants in the desert that don't belong here?  It was refreshing to see some nice healthy desert plants.  Although the dog park could use a little work - I am under the impression that it is fairly new and probably just needs some community tlc.  Instead of complaining about it not having doggy bags or needing a pick up, everyone could chip in and help maintain it better.  I read a few reviews and was sort of put off by everyone's expectations.  I've been to the Chaparral, Chandler & Ahwatukee dog parks.  They are all nice, but they can all use some work too and are sometimes crowded.  Our community spaces are only as good as their community care takers.

I like this park.

That's my 2 cents....

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Elite '08

29

53

Cher T.

Laveen, AZ

The best way I can describe the Steele Indian School Park is:

"This land once was used as a place where Native Culture came to die and is now being used as a place where Native Culture comes to be revived"

I have been to sooo many events at this park.

The Native American Recognition Day Parade ends here and you can usually see members of different dance groups still dressed in traditional attire laughing and dancing or just catching up. With a powwow to follow.

There are several gourd dances held there. Gourd dancing is a very important ceremony where veterans of the military are recognized and thanked for their contribution by their people and are honored justly. It's an amazing experience to go.

Recently, the Arizona Indian Festival was held at the park. There were traditional villages as well as various dance groups and arts and crafts vendors and of course... frybread! The festival was a way to take in the different cultures of the many 22 tribes in Arizona.

On "normal" days, it's a nice place to just be. The land itself has been blessed MANY times and I remember once, a medicine man had asked the Creator to have the park serve the people and asked the the land be able to take anything He has in store for it. Several years later, the two helicopters crashed and landed about 5 yards from where that man once stood.

Since, I know of many groups who came out to rebless the land and I, as a Native American, see it as the park doing just what was asked. It served the people. That accident could have taken more lives then the ones taken. But instead, it landed in the park and the land took it. And is even starting to heal. It served the people that day. As horrible a tragedy as it was, it could have been truely devistating.

Nearly all Natives have a story of the old Indian School in their family. And it's actions have caused many reprocussions. some natives were taught to hate their culture and traditional languages. And to this day, refuse to share their knowledge with their families. Some, had good times and like to sit around and laugh about their experiences climbing the fence to go run around in Phoenix. (my auntie has SEVERAL of those stories!!) In the 1800's and early 1900's, it was a tragic place to exist. But like I said earlier, our culture didn't die.

We still sing. We still dance. we still speak our languages. We still grow and learn and teach our young ones. We, as a people, still live on.

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Elite '08

60

142

Dave B.

Phoenix, AZ

This is a big park in the middle of the city.

That is nice.  

The dog park here is LAMER THAN LAME CAN BE!  There is ZERO grass only gravel and no drinking fountain.   Worthless.

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62

242

Pierre Trudeau I.

Phoenix, AZ

This 75 acre park is a true Phoenix gem. A CenPho oasis.

Ever wondered about the origin of our major arterial street, Indian School? This is it, folks. "The" Phoenix Indian School was opened by the federal government in 1891, known then as the United States Industrial Indian School. And let's not beat around the bush regarding historical truth. The U.S. Indian Commissioner at the time declared in his opening day speech, "It's cheaper to educate Indians than to kill them." Which says it all. This school was part and parcel of a sad period of US history when our forefathers imposed an "Anglo-conformist" indoctrination program on our Native American brothers and sisters. Native Americans were sent to this school from throughout the western states, including California, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona, to be stripped of their cultural identity, forced to speak English, and learn how to be, I guess, "a real 'Merican." How utterly absurd, and ironic.

But history is what it is, and it lives and breathes at this park where the school and many of its buildings still stand preserved today. The rest of the park features a soothing man-made lake, beautiful fields of grass, amusing sculptures, ramadas for local events, a dog park, and a great running path. There is a massive, beautifully lit at night, American flag in the center of the park, that honestly gives me goose bumps every now and then from how gracefully it is presented.

The park is deeply intertwined with Phoenix's identity in my view, even though it was only created (as a park) in 2001. In part because of the history of the Indian School. In part because of its proximity to our downtown business community. In 2005, I ran an unforgettable and emotionally charged September 11 memorial 5K race here, so it's a part of my own "Phoenix story" as well.

In mid-2007, two news helicopters with 4 people on board, 2 of whom were familiar faces to millions of Phoenicians, collided and crashed onto the park grounds, killing all of them. How amazing that the collision would occur here, in this park, instead of just a few dozen yards away where a crash could have impacted a downtown building or commercial center. Currently, a memorial is being constructed on the spot of the crash.

Source for many of my facts: http://www.archaeology...

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