Native American Land is Targeted To Build Data Centers

For the past few years, as AI has boomed and large tech companies have competed to install data centers, many companies are racing to use Native American land. Seeking to bypass the massive delays caused by building on regular land, developers are utilizing the tribal sovereignty on Native American land to avoid these delays.

As the expansion of AI outgrows current power grids, tech companies have shifted their focus to Native American land. They have pitched their infrastructure ideas to the tribes directly in the hopes that they will be allowed to build. However, this has caused debates between among Native American tribes, as some believe it will bring more prosperity and wealth, while others worry over the environmental damages.

The Caddo tribe in Oklahoma, who has recently been struggling financially, embraces this idea. They believe selling the land to AI companies might pull them out of their poverty since their casino, their main source of income, shut down in 2017. Now, they can see their only hope in the data center.

However, other tribes believe that this data center will bring them harmful outcomes that will disrupt their land, not bring wealth in the way they believe it. “True wealth is the well-being of our families,” Chebon Kernell, a member of the council of the Seminole Nation, says.

These data centers bring massive environmental concerns to the community. Because of the large amounts of water required to maintain one, Native Americans are worried that there might not be enough fresh water. According to the undefined, Tracy Newkumet, a former tribal council member, says that she can live without phones but not without water. Another common concern is the pollution this technology would bring to the land.

Because of these concerns, many tribes are taking action to prevent this from happening. For example, Cherokee tribes have temporarily paused the building to assess and analyze the risks associated with it. The Yakama nation also went to federal court to block a project on a sacred site.

At an annual conference in Seattle, indigenous protesters even showed up chanting slogans such as “You can’t drink data!” This forced attendees at the conference to directly acknowledge the growing resistance from tribal members. Ultimately, nations are left to decide whether partnering with these tech companies actually offers financial progress or is just another form of resource exploitation.