Joint Statement by Honor the Earth and the Indigenous Environmental Network on the National Congress of American Indians
For over a year, Water Protectors have been resisting the encroachment of data centers rapidly spreading across Tribal lands.
Last week, Indigenous organizers with Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, and the No Data Centers on Native Land Coalition attended the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI’s) annual convention to demand that Tribal communities join this fight against hyperscale data centers.
NCAI is a space that purports to represent all of Indian Country. And yet, NCAI’s support of generative AI and the hyperscale data centers required to fuel it have pitted Tribal Nations against each other, enabling some Nations to profit at the expense of others, and at the expense of Mother Earth.
When Honor the Earth learned NCAI was promoting generative AI and hyperscale data centers throughout Indian Country, we sent a series of emails asking NCAI leadership for the opportunity to share the real impacts of data centers leading up to the convention.
We received no response from NCAI leadership.
In fact, the sponsors of the NCAI convention were among the top corporations invested in extractive generative AI, including Google, Toyota, and Wells Fargo. NCAI also partnered with the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and University of Nebraska Omaha to obtain a grant from the National Science Foundation to insert generative AI into Tribal governance structures. Every registration bag contained pamphlets promoting generative AI, and multiple sessions pushed this technology as a solution to our widespread and deep cutting infrastructure problems. NCAI also planned to consider passing a resolution supporting generative AI during this session.
Despite not having a collective agreement on this issue by its membership, NCAI continued to promote AI to Tribal leaders without providing transparent and thorough information about the risks associated with extractive AI. They made conscious decisions to not tell their constituency about the impacts of AI and data centers, withholding information from attendees and refusing to address our concerns directly.
Members of Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, and the No Data Centers on Native Land Coalition addressed this lack of transparency by educating NCAI attendees on the dangers of data centers.
We shared fact sheets and challenged speakers during the sessions.
We painted a mural and held a rally and press conference on Thursday morning in front of the convention center, educating conference attendees on the real costs of these data centers and artificial intelligence.
Through our organizing, we were able to ensure that NCAI’s resolution proliferating generative AI in Tribal nations was tabled for this session.
As we move forward, our demands to NCAI are the following:
Stop referring to generative AI and hyperscale data centers as data sovereignty or digital sovereignty.
Impose a 3 year organization-wide moratorium on promoting generative AI and hyperscale data centers in Indian Country while learning about the full impacts on our lands, waters, and sovereignty.
Be transparent and educate members about the economic risks, widespread failures, limited jobs, environmental impacts, and real costs of generative AI and hyperscale data centers.
Agree to meet with Native grassroots groups, Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, and concerned Tribal leaders to discuss the significant threats of generative AI and hyperscale data centers to Indian Country.
We found that many people in attendance were supportive of our efforts. Our actions created a space where relatives across Indian Country felt free to speak out against the impacts of the hyperscale data centers spreading rapidly across Turtle Island.
This fight is far from over - in fact, it is just beginning. We hope for the opportunity to continue to engage NCAI leadership around the harms and impacts of extractive generative AI and hyperscale data centers.
We will continue to organize against this harmful technology as long as generative AI continues to pose extreme risk to our lands, water, air, security, mental health, culture, and education.
Refusing to advance generative AI and the hyperscale data centers required for this technology is a commitment to the wellbeing of the next seven generations. Despite this fact, this work is often overlooked by mainstream foundations. We need you to help keep this critical work moving.
Join us today in funding and supporting this grassroots resistance movement.