AIBRIEF
Chief Hoskin's order targets warehouse sized AI data centers of more than 100 megawatts; the tribe also demands consultation on any hyperscale project on non tribal land inside the reservation.
After a survey of 1,593 Cherokee Nation citizens found 64% opposed, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. banned hyperscale data centers on tribal-owned and trust land this month.
Hyperscale facilities are the warehouse-sized, AI-fueled data centers that often span more than 10,000 square feet and pull more than 100 megawatts of power, according to the Cherokee Nation Data Center Task Force report. The same report describes them as "among the least labor-intensive large structures in the economy," noting a fully built hyperscale site can employ only around 100 people once operational.
The Cherokee Nation's Executive Order 2026-02 formalizes the policy. The Nation will also withhold support for any hyperscale project on non-tribal land inside the reservation unless developers submit to "robust" consultation with the tribe, Hoskin said.
Beyond the reservation, the task force flagged a structural problem: no comprehensive state or federal inventory of planned sites, and pre-development talks routinely shielded by non-disclosure agreements. That opacity, the report argues, blocks the public input needed to weigh energy, water, air, and cultural-resource costs against any economic upside.