Archive · 2 Aug 2026
AI Data Centres Spark Colonial‑Style Debate in Mvskoke Nation
A group of people from the Mvskoke Nation in Oklahoma said no to a plan that would build a big computer center on their land.
They worried that the center would use a lot of water and take away land that is important to them.
Some smart people wrote an article that compared this to a story by Shakespeare called The Tempest.
In that story, a man named Prospero takes control of an island and its people.
The article says that the way the computer center would work is similar to how Prospero controlled the island.
It shows that big companies can use technology to take power from people, just like in the story.
The article says that the people in the Mvskoke Nation can fight back and make sure the technology helps them, not hurts them.
AI data centres consume vast energy and resources, often built on Indigenous lands.
The Mvskoke Nation opposed a proposed data centre park due to water and sovereignty concerns.
Scholars use Shakespeare’s The Tempest to illustrate hidden power structures in AI infrastructure.
The play’s themes of colonisation and control mirror debates over AI’s societal impact.
Indigenous voices argue that AI should not replicate extractive colonial models.
- Who
- Mvskoke Nation citizens, AI researchers, scholars
- What
- Debate over a proposed AI data centre park and analysis of AI infrastructure
- Where
- Mvskoke Nation, Oklahoma, United States
- Why
- Concerns over resource use, water supply, land sovereignty, and colonial legacy
- AI Data Centres
- Energy‑intensive, located far from users
- Mvskoke Technology and Innovation Park
- Proposed data centre park in Oklahoma
- NCA 25-077
- Bill to establish the park
- Mvskoke Nation
- Indigenous nation opposing the park
- Shakespeare's The Tempest
- Used as allegory for AI power structures