MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — The hallways of Bacone College are cold and dark. In the college’s historic buildings, there are leaks to plug, mold to purge and priceless works of Native American art to save from ruin. Founded in 1880 as a Baptist missionary college focused on assimilation, Bacone College transformed into an Indigenous-led institution that provided an intertribal community, as well as a degree. Across the country, there are only a few dozen tribal colleges, according to the American Indian College Fund, a nonprofit that supports Native American access to higher education. Tribal colleges must be sponsored by a federally recognized tribe and have a majority Native student enrollment.

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Persons: aren't, Nicky Michael, Woody Crumbo, Fred Beaver, Joan Hill, Ruthe Blalock Jones, Bacone, “ Bacone, ”, Robin Mayes, Michael, Gerald Cournoyer, Cournoyer, Patti Jo King, King, Bull, Custer, Johnnie Diacon, Leslie Hannah, he’s, Midgley, Chris Oberle, KOSU, ___ Graham Lee Brewer Organizations: Baptist, Muscogee Nation Tribal Council, Lakota, Center, American, Kiowa, Huber Energy, Muskogee County Sheriff’s, MHEC, Associated Press, National Register of Historic Places, American Indian College Fund Locations: MUSKOGEE, Okla, shuttering, Muscogee, U.S, Cherokee, Bacone, Oklahoma, Ataloa Lodge, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Utah, Muskogee County