The Tribal Council of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska on Thursday approved a resolution that “strongly opposes the development of hyperscale data centers on and/or near the Winnebago Indian Reservation.”
The measure says a data center could adversely impact tribal citizens and the water. The resolution notes that the tribe sees water as “not a commodity, but our living relative.”
That action came just hours before the Salix City Council members voted not to place moratorium on possible data center in town. The Google firm in early August announced the company is in the early stages of evaluating a Salix site for a data center.
At the July Salix City Council meeting on a possible data center moratorium, Winnebago Tribal official Coly Brown noted that tribal nation is located four miles from Salix.
Brown expressed concerns that a large development would negatively impact an important nearby water aquifer.
Brown said the tribal government wishes to have a government-to-government consultation with the Salix City Council.
Charles White Eagle Parker, an Omaha Tribal member, went to a Salix rally concerning the data center in June.
He had concerns on how a data center would impact the Winnebago and Omaha Tribal, and said that more indigenous relatives should be involved in the conversation.
