Jewish museums are a relatively new phenomenon, born at the end of the nineteenth century in Europe.  In general, they were founded by acculturated Jews looking to root themselves in their landscapes as both Jews and as cosmopolitan citizens of the place in which they lived, and to display for their acculturated communities a celebratory and triumphant interpretation of the Jewish past, present, and future (see Shneer n. d.).

Native American Museums. The tribal museum movement took off in the 1960s and '70s during the time of American Indian activism which called attention to issues of tribal people and especially the need to honor tribal treaties. The question of mainstream museums being the purveyors of tribal culture, rather than the tribes themselves, arose.

Tribal museums found throughout the United States are actually based upon ancient Native American communal practices.  Both sacred and patrimonial objects traditionally held great community significance. These items were kept by specialists, under special conditions, for the community's benefit.  For example, in the Southwest, kivas housed collections whose use was vital to the members of the pueblo and to their sense of place in the world. The Iroquois of the Northeast, the Great Plains societies, and communities of the Pacific Northwest all followed similar practices.  These ?collections,? however, were rarely, if ever, thought of as "museums," as the items were used at regular intervals in rituals and ceremonies.

Many Native American communities never abandoned their "museum" institutions. According to Nason, (Nason 1999: n. p.) the modern institutions that have been proliferating both derive meaning from the past and exemplify new opportunities for community enrichment and preservation.

During the later decades of the 20^th century, four pilot projects were approved and constructed with federal funds to create jobs and diversify tribal economies: Yakama National Cultural Center, Makah Cultural and Research Center, both in Washington state; Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in New York, and the now-closed Native American Center for the Living Arts in Niagara Falls. The next surge came in the 1990s, particularly from 1993-95 when tribal museums were constructed in Idaho, Oregon, California, Montana, Alaska, Oklahoma and Arizona.

In 1980, The North American Indian Museum Association was organized by over 30 tribal groups nationwide.  The role of tribal museums at that time, according to Horse Capture was to, ?recognize and preserve the traditional while at the same time contending with the changing social environment of the contemporary world ? the museum will ? merge into the continuing culture and become part of it? (Horse Capture, 1981: n. p.)

The emergence in interest in multiculturalism persisted through the late 1980s.  As Steven D. Levine put it, because of a ?? heightened worldwide interest in multicultural and intercultural issues?Groups attempting to establish and maintain a sense of community and to asset their claims in the larger world challenge the right of established institutions to control the presentation of their culture ?? (Levine, 1989: 37).  According to Garfield, ?During the past two decades, ethnic pride has led to the establishment of many museums closely linked to their immediate communities? (Garfield, 1989: 45).  In many of these communities, these museums were a direct response to the need for representational authority.