Cherokee Nation Announces Ban on Hyperscale Data Centers in Tribal Trust Land
Cherokee Nation announces ban on hyperscale data centers on tribal and trust lands Policy follows task force review of water, energy, infrastructure, cultural-resource, and community concerns By Miami News-Digest Staff August 6, 2026 TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. is implementing a ban on hyperscale data center development on land owned by the Cherokee Nation and land held in trust, tribal officials announced Aug. 5. The policy follows the release of findings from the Principal Chief’s Data Center Task Force, which studied the possible economic, environmental, cultural, and community effects of large-scale data center development within the Cherokee Nation Reservation. The action is not described as a prohibition covering every data center or every parcel of land within the reservation. The Cherokee Nation announcement distinguishes between tribally controlled property and nontribally owned land. On Cherokee Nation-owned and trust lands,...