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The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is one of the first tribes to pass a moratorium against the construction of hyperscale data centers.
The nearby Muscogee Nation also turned down an opportunity to build a data center after Muscogee citizens spoke out in force against the plan. Large tech companies are stepping up the pressure to build hyperscale data centers to house the processing power for data storage and generative AI.
And the federal government is providing incentives for tribes to get involved in this part of the tech boom. It is part of the Trump administration’s push to unleash American technological power, but such facilities typically require a lot of power and water.
Native environmentalists warn data center companies are only looking to take advantage of tribes’ sovereignty and resources.
“YOU CAN’T DRINK DATA…THE BIG LIE IS AI”: Demonstration against data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) at National Congress of American Indians 82nd annual convention in Seattle, Washington. @NCAI1944 pic.twitter.com/UhajeBGAA4
— indianz.com (@indianz) November 20, 2025
Cheyenne McNeill (Coharie), editorial fellow at Mother Jones, author of In Indian Country, Data Centers Come With a Familiar Threat of Colonialism. These Organizers Are Fighting Back., published April 7, 2026
Jordan Harmon (Muscogee), policy specialist at Indigenous Environmental Network
Ashley Leitka (Absentee Shawnee Tribe and Oglala Lakota), co-director of the sovereignty and self-determination department for Honor The Earth
Dr. Karen Jarratt Snider (Choctaw), professor of applied Indigenous studies at Northern Arizona University
