March through Minneapolis protests Camp Nenookaasi eviction

Political organizers and supporters of Minneapolis’s unsheltered population marched Tuesday evening from the site of the Wall of Forgotten Natives — a now-closed encampment — to Camp Nenookaasi, an existing camp the city plans to tear down.

The marchers were protesting the eviction planned for next Tuesday. 

Christin Crabtree, a camp organizer, said the march follows the same path a group of unhoused women walked when they were evicted from The Wall of Forgotten Natives in August. She addressed the crowd near the site of the former encampment, near the intersection of 22nd Street and Little Earth Trail along the northeast corner of East Phillips Park.

“We’re following the path that the relatives walked that day,” she said.  

The Wall of Forgotten Natives encampment formed in 2018 when as many as 300 people pitched rows of tents along a thin strip of land along Hiawatha Avenue.  

It was closed in December of 2018 and again in 2020, but another small encampment in the same location formed this past summer when approximately 100 unhoused people pitched tents at the site. State officials shut down that encampment in late August, citing public safety concerns. 

Minneapolis city officials gave the same reason when they announced earlier this month that they would evict residents of Camp Nenookaasi. 

But marchers spoke out against the planned eviction.  

Myron Gibbs, a 45-year-old Indigenous man, said he had been camped out alone for more than a year when he moved to Camp Nenookaasi one week ago. 

“Being alone has taken its toll,” said Gibbs. “I didn’t know there was this much support here for people outside. I am an addict and I am going to take advantage the programs that are being offered.” 

Camp organizer Nicole Mason spoke about her own journey with substance use disorder and said more services are needed for those who are ready to begin recovering from addiction. 

The city initially said the camp would shut down Thursday, but earlier on Tuesday afternoon, the city granted the camp a five-day extension. Tuesday evening, a 45-year-old man was fatally shot inside the camp. A city spokesperson said Wednesday the plan to close the camp has not changed, and it plans to clear the camp just before the Christmas holiday. 

Organizers of the march are asking the city not evict Camp Nenookaasi despite recent violence at the camp. In a brief interview with MPR News after the march, organizer Christin Crabtree said she believes closing the camp will not make the surrounding neighborhood safer. 

Crabtree said clearing the camp will again scatter unhoused people around the city, making it more difficult for them to meet with housing workers and receive community resources. She went on to say that while she would not want to see violence at the camp, she believes closing the camp is more likely to perpetuate the violence experienced by unsheltered people.  

“Are we trying to get rid or problems or are we trying to get rid of human beings?” Crabtree said.

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