Magpie Messenger Issue 3: Why we are fighting nuclear and data centers in Northern Cheyenne?

In last month’s Magpie Messenger, my colleague Conor Varela Handley introduced our framework for Techno-Colonialism, which we define as the extraction and exploitation of Indigenous resources for tech profit.

We’ve seen the same story play out around the world: Tech companies occupying Indigenous or Black and Brown Lands in order to dominate the internet with artificial intelligence and other imperial tools.

Our fight against Techno-Colonialism is what led us to our latest campaign on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. This rural Native community is currently facing four distinct threats: a proposed nuclear site, uranium enrichment site, possible nuclear waste storage, all to power a proposed massive data center. 

In May, Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) and Northwest Energy (which has a monopoly over energy utilities in Montana and the surrounding states) announced their plans to plan to refurbish a coal refinery just a few miles outside of the Reservation with a Small Modular Nuclear Reactor (SMR). SMRs are a new technology that has never been built or tested on Turtle Island. These corporations are selling a technology that does not exist yet in order to scam a coal-dependent community into subsidizing the project with public funds.  

More than a dozen community members - most of them Northern Cheyenne - attended the May meeting and voiced their concerns and opposition to the project. But Northwest Energy was very clear: no matter the opposition, they are moving forward with this project.

Northwest Energy has claimed they need the SMR to keep up with the community’s energy demands. After doing some research, Honor the Earth discovered that an undisclosed mega-corporation already has plans to build a massive data center just outside the Reservation. Data centers are known to suck up massive amounts of energy for air conditioning and AI – far more than any humans. 

Because of these multilayered threats, the Northern Cheyenne Reservation has become the site of Honor the Earth’s newest campaign. We’re organizing against nuclear energy, against uranium enrichment, against nuclear waste storage, and against data centers. Our goals: to maintain clean air, water, and land for future generations.  

We envision a just transition away from both fossil fuels and extractive greenwashing. Instead of Techno-Colonialism, we want real climate solutions that center Indigenous sovereignty, community-controlled renewable energy, and reductions in overall consumption — not just new ways to mine the planet.

This campaign is more than just a singular fight against one enemy. It’s a complex struggle against multiple threats all working together under the umbrella of Techno-Colonialism. 

Alongside the Northern Cheyenne, Honor the Earth is a) supporting coal-impacted rural communities who are on the frontlines of environmental racism; (b) fighting against the Small Modular Nuclear Reactor being built on or near Indigenous lands; (c) protecting communities from the harmful effects of uranium enrichment; (d) refusing to sacrifice Indigenous lands and health for nuclear waste storage; (e) taking a stand against data centers, AI, cryptocurrency and other technologies that are furthering the Techno-Colonial agenda; and (f) resisting all militarism, as nuclear energy cannot be separated from its purpose in war. 

As we get deeper into this work, we hope other communities can use this campaign as a template for how to inform, strategize, and build holistic intersectional campaigns that bridge hyper-local fights with international struggles. 

This campaign will not be won in a single community meeting or protest. We’re anticipating a years-long struggle. 

In these early days, our focus is on community organizing. 

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve hosted at least a dozen in-person organizer trainings on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. These trainings have been laying the groundwork for the community to build skills, educate themselves, and develop a network of organizers who are prepared to mobilize against corporate interests and the extractive industry. We already have at least a dozen committed organizers who have shown up to every meeting.

In November, we’ll host another iteration of our No Green Colonialism School on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. The school will train local Indigenous activists on how to organize their community against ongoing extraction on Indigenous lands. 

And in December, we’re planning a community intervention event to shed light on the harms of nuclear installations.

We know this will be a long difficult fight, so we are creating long-term partnerships with Cheyenne Tribal members, local landowners, ranchers, and farmers, and other local opponents of Northwest Energy’s plans. We also plan to support the legal cases that the tribes and other community groups will bring against these corporations and/or governments attempting to install nuclear facilities on their lands. 

This work will be both time-consuming and expensive. That’s why we rely on the generosity of supporters like you to help keep us moving forward. 

You can make a tax-deductible gift to Honor the Earth here.

Nuclear energy, data centers, and AI are at the core of what gives corporations and governments control. By targeting them together, we’re aiming directly for the imperial core. It’s only by defeating these forces that we can build an Indigenous future, together.