Monday, April 13, 2026 — Tribes confront growing data center development pressure

About this episode

The episode discusses the pressures tribes face from large tech companies to develop hyperscale data centers and the environmental concerns associated with such developments.

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. 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. GUESTS Cheyenne McNeill (Coharie), editorial fellow at Mother Jones 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…

Topics covered

• data centers
• tribal sovereignty
• environmental impact
• technology

Keywords

• Seminole Nation
• Muscogee Nation
• hyperscale data centers
• generative AI
• environmentalists

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Oklahoma, Muscogee, Coharie

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