The Phoenix Indian School served as a coeducational, federal educational institution for American Indian primary and secondary students between 1891 and 1990. Covering 10 blocks and enrolling over 600 Indian children aged 8-18, this boarding school used education to assimilate students into Anglo-American culture. This monograph describes archaeological work that sought information about life at the school and in Phoenix that was not documented in historic records. The chosen site was a refuse dump created during the first few years of the school's existence and closed three or four decades later. Five research themes were identified from preliminary excavations that would be used in designing and implementing fieldwork: acculturation and ethnicity, refuse disposal patterns, subsistence patterns, trade networks and supply systems, and the development of an Indian School artifact pattern model. After an introduction describing the founding and growth of the Indian School and preliminary excavations, chapters detail data recovery methods, dig square/feature descriptions, chronology of the site, glass artifacts, miscellaneous artifacts and clothing, ceramic artifacts, metal artifacts, animal management at the school, and macrobotanical remains. The final chapter discusses the findings in relation to the five research themes, drawing inferences as to the daily life of the students, types of discipline used, evidence of Native religious practices, self expression in traditional ways, home identity practices, and creation of a new "Indian" identity--the product of the assimilation of ideas from different Indian tribes and non-Indians. Contains over 100 references and numerous data tables, figures, illustrations, and photographs. (SAS)