The newest iteration of Camp Nenookaasi formed overnight on a small empty lot in south Minneapolis. About a dozen yurts built of wood and tarp lined the camp’s perimeter Friday as a white tent with a fire pit and trash bags filled the center.
It’s the fourth time the homeless encampment has been rebuilt after being evicted by the city under supervision by a large police presence.
Camp Nenookaasi organizers are accusing Minneapolis officials of “retaliatory” action, and are criticizing what they describe as “a misuse of resources” spent on evicting the camp three times this month, and two times this week alone.
“They take away all the resources of the relatives here,” camp organizer Nicole Mason said Friday at a news conference outside the new camp. “They literally ripped it from under their feet and made no resources available for them.”
Many camp residents were left vulnerable this week because outreach workers did not receive notice of the Tuesday and Thursday evictions, she said, adding that city officials did not offer storage to camp residents to keep their belongings safe.
Mason said that police officers and drones also followed residents at Thursday’s eviction.
A city spokesperson issued a brief email statement Friday about the city’s work on homelessness, but did not address the camp’s statements and demands.
“The City’s Homeless Response Team continues to connect our unsheltered community members with available services from Hennepin County and other community partners,” said the city’s statement. “Those resources include shelter, housing, mental health, and addiction services. We continue to prioritize the health and safety of those living in encampments and surrounding neighborhoods.”
The new camp formed Thursday at 1105 E. 28th Street after the previous camp was evicted from a site about four blocks away. All three previous iterations of the camp have been located within blocks of each other in the East Phillips or Phillips neighborhoods, and have mostly housed Native residents.
The new camp is located between an alley and a residential house. Boxes of food, black trash bags stuffed with residents’ belongings, and other supplies sprawled across the new camp.
The camp issued a news release Friday objecting to the city’s spending on evictions and noted that they have also asked the city to offer temporary indoor housing to camp residents while working to find long term solutions.
The city should be using money to house people instead of evicting them, the statement said. Ninety police officers were dispatched to the eviction Tuesday and more than 70 officers were dispatched to the first eviction on January 4, according to Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette.
The “constant cycle of evictions without adequate shelter feels retaliatory and is a misuse of resources spent on evictions and paying police, when it could be used for housing people,” the news release said.
“That amount of money can pay so many months of so many peoples’ rent. Why is it being misspent?” Mason said.
The first camp was home to about 160 people; subsequent camps have housed fewer occupants as they relocated to smaller city lots. Mason said she estimates that 60 people reside at the new camp.
Camp organizers are still looking for residents who were displaced due to Thursday’s eviction. Seven camp residents found housing Thursday with the help of shelters and Avivo, a nonprofit aimed at ending homelessness, Mason said.
While evictions can take their toll, Mason said camp residents also feel uplifted by growing support from camp organizers and volunteers.
“I see less and less tears—less anxiety—as they [camp residents] see all of the allies, how we hug them with protection and care and love,” she said.
The city has previously said it evicted Camp Nenookaasi due to public health and safety issues, including threats between camp residents, a shooting outside one of the camps that allegedly involved someone emerging from the camp, and a stomach flu virus that sickened some residents at one location.
Signs adorn the fence surrounding Camp Nenookaasi’s latest location at S. 11th Avenue and W. 28th Street in south Minneapolis on February 2, 2024. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal 
Volunteers adorn the fence surrounding Camp Nenookaasi’s latest location at S. 11th Avenue and W. 28th Street in south Minneapolis with signs and messages of support on February 2, 2024. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal 
After Camp Nenookaasi was evicted from a city lot on February 1, 2024, organizers and occupants set up a new camp blocks away at S. 11th Avenue and W. 28th Street in south Minneapolis. The fourth iteration of Camp Nenookaasi, pictured on February 2, 2024, includes heated yurts. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal 
Camp Nenookaasi organizer Nicole Mason (left) speaks to the press on February 2, 2024, outside of the encampment’s newest location. The fourth iteration of the camp was formed on February 1, 2024, at S. 11th Avenue and W. 28th Street in south Minneapolis after it was evicted from a city lot a few blocks away. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal 
Supporters of Camp Nenookaasi hold protest signs during the camp’s press conference on February 2, 2024. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal 
Volunteers adorn the fence surrounding Camp Nenookaasi’s latest location at S. 11th Avenue and W. 28th Street in south Minneapolis with signs and messages of support on February 2, 2024. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article misstated the day the third camp was evicted.
