Woman, 51, Dies At Minneapolis Tent City

MINNEAPOLIS — A third person has died while living at the tent city at Hiawatha Avenue and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. Pamela Sue Rivera, 51, was transported from the encampment and pronounced dead in the emergency room at Hennepin Healthcare Sunday afternoon.

Rivera was a mother of eight and a grandmother. The cause of her death is still under investigation, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

People close to her said Rivera struggled with substance abuse, KSTP reported.

"It's no secret people being addicted out here, but that's also part of being homeless," Fabian Jones, a member of Natives Against Heroin, told the news station.

A funeral for Rivera is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. at White Earth Indian Reservation.

The Wall of Forgotten Natives

The tent city — located near the American Indian Center — has been called "The Wall of Forgotten Natives" because many of its residents are Native American.

"They came to an area, a geography that has long been identified as a part of the Native community. A lot of the camp residents feel at home, they feel safer," Robert Lilligren, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors, told NBC News.

In late September, the Minneapolis City Council approved a site in south Minneapolis for a temporary "navigation center" that will provide services environment for people living at the encampment.

City staff will work with community and government partners to establish the center at 2109 Cedar Avenue, a 1.25-acre site that includes parcels owned by the Red Lake Nation and the city. The goal is to open the center this fall.

Until the center opens, there are no plans to close the encampment.

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