Long before there was such a thing as a museum, or a CD-ROM, or even a book,
the elders of the tribe passed down the stories of the tribe's past, of the
creation of the world, of the founding of the settlement--of the making of
men and women, even.  Today we call these stories "history."
 
It *is* true that, in a narrow sense, the "facts" of this history don't
matter to the new initiates (the kids).  But, of course, there are no facts--
there is only interpretation.  So, the "history" we pass on to our children
is a way of looking at the world, an interpretation of our environment.
Anthropologists call this "culture."
 
If history museums don't know why they teach history, they should get out of the
 business and give the job back to the elders.  But whether the museums are invo
lved or not, whether we call the subject "history" or not, if a society exists
then the stories will be being told, somewhere, somehow.