Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska announces opposition to data centers near its lands & citizens
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska's Tribal Council passed a resolution strongly opposing hyperscale data centers near its reservation, citing concerns about water resources. This occurred just hours before the Salix City Council in Iowa voted against implementing a moratorium on data centers, specifically a site Google is evaluating. Tribal officials are seeking government-to-government consultation with Salix regarding these developments.
The Tribal Council of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska unanimously approved a resolution expressing strong opposition to the development of hyperscale data centers on or near the Winnebago Indian Reservation. The tribe's concerns center on the potential adverse impacts such facilities could have on tribal citizens and water resources, which the resolution states the tribe considers a "living relative," not a commodity.
This significant action from the Winnebago Tribe came just hours before the Salix City Council in Iowa voted not to enact a moratorium on potential data center development within the town. Google had announced in early August that it is in the preliminary stages of evaluating a site in Salix for a data center.
During a July Salix City Council meeting discussing a possible data center moratorium, Winnebago Tribal official Coly Brown highlighted that the tribal nation is located only four miles from Salix. Brown voiced apprehensions that a large-scale development, such as a data center, would negatively affect a crucial nearby water aquifer and conveyed the tribal government's desire for a government-to-government consultation with the Salix City Council.
Adding to the local opposition, Charles White Eagle Parker, an Omaha Tribal member, attended a June rally in Salix concerning the data center. He also raised concerns about the impact on both the Winnebago and Omaha Tribes, advocating for increased involvement of indigenous relatives in the ongoing discussions.